The Elder King
by Elder Dante
Summary: The World Harry knew had been devastated after the War. He stepped through the Veil into his next Great Adventure. in the World of Ice and Fire as the Harbinger of Death and the Elder King. Will either be rewritten or abandoned.
1. After the Battle of Hogwarts

everyone who does not really care about the HP world can start the fic at chapter 3. I will rewrite the first two chapters at some point. For now, they are not really what I want them to be.

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Chapter 1. After the Battle of Hogwarts

After the Battle of Hogwarts, the wizarding world elevated Harry Potter to hero status and almost worshipped him. Even his friends wanted him to take on a position as minister of magic. Harry himself only wanted peace and quiet. After a violent argument with his best friends, he decided he needed to go. So he left Britain to go traveling. He met many new people and learned a lot about different subjects and cultures. Some magical and some mundane. He stayed with a Guinean tribe, where he learned a lot about ambient magic, for almost ten years before moving on. Early on the savior of the wizarding world realized that he did not age.

And after a bad fall of a big tree that broke his neck, it was clear he that could not die either. It hurt like hell but his bones simply rearranged themselves and mended back together with a pop. He returned to Britain almost 23 years later. Mainly to check on his Gringotts account and see some of his old friends. Harry did not keep up with the British magical community while on his travels. He did not send or receive any letters while he was gone. Nor did he bother to read any newspapers.

With a plop, a 20-year-old looking Harry Potter appeared near the Leaking Cauldron in an empty side street. Harry's hair was longer and bound to a tail. On his forehead, visible was the lightning scar. His face looked different though. Strong cheek lines and a well kept short black beard. And most of all he did not wear glasses. His eyes had changed the most. When they had been a strong emerald-like green in his youth, they now were not a single colour anymore. Twirling like a pool of silver and black with green and golden stars shining in between. It was mesmerizing. Yet it was only visible for the shortest of moments. Before they settled to very dark green.

Harry wore a simple black Shirt and a coat made of black wool. It was raining and he entered the leaky cauldron swiftly. The Pub was dimly lit and only a few people were sitting huddled together in a corner. Obviously drunk. Behind the Bar stood Tom. Looking almost the same as 20 years ago, scrubbing a dirty glass. Harry made his way to the counter.

"Hey Tom, Long time since we' ve seen last. I need a room for a few days."

Tom the barkeeper stopped scrubbing his glass and looked into Harrys eyes. From there, his gaze wandered to his lightning bolt scar. His eyes immediately became as big as saucer plates and he started to stammer.

"Mm.. Mmmister Potter, I mean Lord Potter. It would be an honor to house you on your return of course. The best room I have"

Harry almost snorted out loud and had to suppress a sigh

"Thank you, Tom. I would be pleased if we could keep this quiet for now. And Mister Potter is enough"

Harry took the offered key and made his way up the staircase to his room.

Upon entering he took a small item from a ring and enlarged it. It was a simple looking suitcase with 9 intricate locks and no adornments. It was obviously made of some expensive leather. Harry bent down and pressed his right thumb on the first of the locks and spoke a quiet word in parseltongue

 _Open._

The suitcase clicked a few times and sprang open.

Harry rummaged through the suitcase compartment

"It must be here somewhere. I know I threw it in here"

after a few socks had flown through the room he pulled an old looking iron key out of the suitcase triumphantly holding it in the air and exclaiming.

"Ha there you are"

After a brief repacking of his belongings, Harry wandlessly shrunk his suitcase and summoned and stuck it back on a simple silver ring adorning one of his fingers. For a short moment, he marveled at his powers. His magic core and his skills had increased considerably in the time he had spent with the tribe. While he always carried his phoenix core wand on a hidden holster. He rarely used it.

His only stop needed for now was Gringotts. Harry walked through Diagon Alley with his hairs open, so they hid his scar. No one recognized him. The people made their purchases quickly and then seemed to leave. Not staying around to talk or mingle. The prevalent mood was depressive.

The white marble walls of Gringotts were the same as he remembered. 2 Fully armored Goblins guarding the polished steps leading up to the Grand Entrance.

Harry thought they gave him a nod when he entered. But it was so inconspicuous that he was not sure.

Quickly making his way to one of the tellers Harry respectfully said.

"I wish to speak to my account manager. I have my key here"

The goblin behind the ornamented counter was weighing glittering gems and scribbling down some notes on parchment. He did not answer nor showed he any signs to have heard the wizard at all.

Harry mentally cursed but straightened his back and repeated in iron like voice.

"I am Lord Harry Potter-Black. And I wish to see my account manager. Now"

Harry also imbued his voice with a bit of his magic and let the abyss in his eyes shine clear.

The goblin behind the counter immediately straightened and stared captivated into Harrys eyes.

Although he was apparently a very young goblin, who must have made his way through the ranks quickly, he showed signs of recognition on his face. He must have seen his face on posters and book covers. God knows there had been an abundance of both when he had left.

Harry pulled back his magic and stopped the glowing of his eyes.

The goblin broke the stare and answered.

"Lord Potter. I will inform Griphook your account manager of your presence."

After the declaration, he made his way quickly to a small door in the back of the hall. Only a minute later he returned with an older goblin in tow.

Harry recognized Griphook from his previous trips to his vaults. He had come here for a short visit before going traveling.

Griphook opened a small side door next to the counter and stood opposite to Harry.

He grinned a savage smile and spoke

"Welcome back. Lord Potter-Black. If you would hand me your key and follow me. We can discuss your account details."

Griphook extended one of his green clawed hands with an open palm.

Harry gave Griphook the key and followed him when he turned around and started walking into the bowels of the bank. A short time after they came to a heavy wooden door and entered into a grand office. Besides a very big mahagoni desk, there were only a few goblin oddities lining the wall and a big shield with crossed swords adorning the wall behind the desk.

Griphook gestured for Harry to take a seat in the chair in front of the desk. He himself took place behind the large table and asked

"Lord Potter-Black how can I help you now?"

Harry reclined in the chair. It was pretty uncomfortable he noted.

"I would like to check the financial reports of my assets and investments since the last time I visited."

The goblin nodded and turned around to open a safe behind the shield. He took a small black bowl and a big leathery ledger out and put them before him on the desk.

"Before we go over the details I will have to make a short blood test. To make sure Gringotts does not let a fraud wander it' s halls"

The Goblin did not speak the words in malice but the warning was clear.

Harry answered "I understand. I hope you don't mind me using my own knife. And of course, I will destroy the blood afterward."

With a flick of his wrist Harry summoned a knife he hid in his boots and enlarged it. Griphook did not bat an eyelash at the stunning display of magic.

"Of course not Lord Potter. A few drops of blood will suffice to prove your identity. As you know the bowl will kill any imposter" The Goblin answered with a slight smile and pushed the bowl to Harry's side of the desk.

The bowl was old. It was made of a special kind of stone Harry did not recognize. There were not many adornments on the bowl, except for a few runes unknown to Harry, and the triangle with the crossed circle on the bottom. The sign of the Deathly Hallows.

This was not the first time Harry took the test. He nicked his thumb with the blade and spilled a few drops of his blood in the bowl. For a moment the blood stood still. After a few seconds the blood started coating fast, and soon became gelatine like mass which wobbled in the bowl before it was absorbed with a sucking sound into the stone.

Harry could feel the magical connection that the bowl formed to truly see him. It was a masterful work of magic, an almost sentient like feeling came from it while feeling the connection. His blood thrummed with magic and he could feel the power rippling under his skin itching to break free.

Griphook marveled at the power displayed in front of him. Shortly after the blood was given, the bowl started to glow an ominous grey shade followed closely by Lord Potter who let all barriers fall and let the ominous magic flow through him freely. His eyes looked like a deep pit the world would sink into. Swirling black and silver mist with golden glowing twinkles. It was like looking at the cloudless night sky. A grey-green aura surrounded Potter. All together made for an impressive, even intimidating display the goblin had to admit silently

It was over as fast as it came. The bowl recognized him as Lord Potter and in extension as Lord Black. The Black family spell was added to the Potter bowl in the past. Griphook took the bowl and stowed it away in his safe.

One hour later Harry was leaving Gringotts a happy man. At least money wise. While he was not big on spending money at all, it was nice to know he did not let a fool manage it. Harry was by far not the richest man in the world, these places were taken by fresh young mundane billionaires, yet he was still very wealthy.

Probably the richest wizard in Britain. While the Potters had been wealthy, most of his galleons and investments came from the Black family. When he became eighteen Gringotts asked him to confirm his ownership of the Peverell Vault. Vault Number 002. Upon confirmation, Harry visited the Peverell vault. It was in the deepest bowels of Gringotts, built even before the bank itself, and safely hidden behind multiple traps and even a few dragons.

The track ended at the beginning of a cave entrance. The vault doors were massive. At least 8 meters high and 4 meters wide the doors were made of the same stone as the bowl.

Guarding the entrance was a giant statue of a hooded man wearing a cloak and holding a long scythe. Harry supposed it was built as a warning. The content of the Vault was disappointing, to say the least. The vault itself was large and echoing. At least twice the Great Hall of Hogwarts. And yet the only thing in the vault was an archway in the center of the room on a raised stone dais.

It immediately reminded Harry of the veil in the Department of Mysteries. It was bigger though. At about 4 m height and almost the same width, it was formed like a rainbow. Other than the ministry one, this one was made out of some kind of white wood. Yet the coldness that could be felt near it and the whispering smoke like fog were the same.

Harry had never been back there afterward until today. He had ordered to transfer over ten million pounds to mundane banks. The rest of his monetary Wealth, about 64 million galleons he had transferred from the Black and Potter Vaults to the Peverell Vault. Including all the numerous artifacts, weapons, armors, trinkets, and books.

The Black and Potter Vault were both empty now. He did not trust the Ministry to not try to confiscate his money. No one except him and the Goblins knew about his Peverell ownership or even the Vault itself. So the content should be safe. The goblins would never abandon Gringotts.

Harry was on his way back just passing a barred and closed Fortesque Ice Salon when he suddenly heard multiple pops around him and saw ministry Aurors appearing and encircling him.

There were 12 of them in total and they all had their wands out and pointed at him. Harry sighed and internally cursed for binding back his hair before leaving the bank. While he was not intimidated, this had the potential to get ugly fast. He did not need the Attention this would surely draw. Harry decided to wait before using one of his tricks to simply vanish.

While all the Aurors were dressed in the same dark blue Robes with the Auror Badges on their chest. One of them had white markers on his shoulders. He had pale brown hair and a stubby nose. He was about the same height as Harry He stepped forward and addressed Harry, while still holding his wand pointed at him.

"Mister Potter in the Name of Minister Umbridge you are hereby arrested and charged with treason, magical terrorism, and omitting your assistance while magical Britain was in an all-encompassing crisis. We have orders to bring you directly to Azkaban. Where your trial and following execution will be held."

The man tried to give a strong impression, but his voice cracked slightly during his little speech.

The stubby nosed auror had little drops of sweet on his forehead and his colleagues were shuffling quietly.

Harry had been warned by the goblins that many things had changed and the ministry was as evil as it could get. Yet he had not expected them to react so fast. He had his arms spread wide and answered calmly

"I will not be detained. Not by you nor anyone else. Let this be my only warning. I will not stay for long in Britain. Leave me alone and we won't have any problems"

He did not expect an intelligent answer and was not surprised when two of the Aurors cried "Stupefy" and red bolts snapped in his direction. One of the things Harry had started to learn was feeling the fabric of magic around him. With enough concentration, he could feel the ambient magic that was inhabiting every living being, even plants. When he concentrated hard enough he could bend the magic around him to his will. He did not use any Spells or even any incarnation at all.

He simply bent the magic with his willpower and augmented it with his own. While he was already able to do many complex feats of magic with this skill in complete silence and meditation, it was a lot harder in a real fight.

He had overestimated his abilities and was barely able to bend the spells enough to curve around him and hit two unprepared comrades of the attacker. Harry quickly spun on the spot and ignored the anti apparation ward that was up above the Alley.

"Heed my warning and leave me alone"

With a massive bang that left a small shockwave traveling through the alley Harry vanished.


	2. Aftermath

Aftermath

Harry appeared in front of a barred Metal Gate. The property behind it was extensive and shielded by a stone wall and large oak trees on both sides of the gate. On a big bronze plate attached to the wall, it read. Longbottom Manor.

Harry cast a few detection charms without getting a response. He went ahead and rang an old looking doorbell. He had never actually come in through the front door at Neville's house. Always through the floo network. Only about ten seconds after ringing, a small house elf plopped into existence behind the Gate.

"Stranger has rung the doorbell, how can Topsy be of help?" asked the large-eared elf with a suspicious look on its face.

Topsy seemed to be as old as Kreacher had been before Harry had sold the black house and Kreacher died of a heart attack.

Harry bowed low so he was on the same height as the elf. "I am Harry Potter and an old friend of your Master Neville Longbottom. I would like to speak to him." Harry said kindly.

The elf's eyes went wide and he bowed low and said.

"Topsy thought youse be bad ministry wizard. Topsy is very sorry for not welcoming masters friend correctly. I will inform the Master immediately mister Potter Harry sir"

The small elf rambled and almost scrapped his nose on the driveway. He plopped away still bowing and Harry resolved to wait.

The Gate opened a few moments later and Harry walked up the extensive driveway to the Manor. Upon coming closer he could see Neville standing in the entrance door with a large grin on his face. Neville had matured well. The stubby boy had disappeared and a large and well-built man took its place. He was large and had a well-groomed beard and whiskers. He wore a red V neck Pullover with a white Shirt underneath. Brown trousers and House flippers.

"Harry it' s really you. I can' t believe it. After all this time. You are here." Neville embraced Harry with open arms and laughed loud. He let go of the embrace and stopped laughing. His face took on a serious note.

"It' s really nice to see you. there' s a lot you've missed. A lot I've got to tell you. But for now, come in."

Neville gestured to the doorway and made his way into the house. It looked the same as Harry remembered it. A lot of old furniture, many paintings and even a few suits of armor lined the walls.

Neville led Harry to a solar with comfortable chairs and a plushy couch lined with velvet.

Neville told Harry what happened in the time he had been gone. The current Minister Jonathan Umbridge, the second son of Dolores Umbridge, had led the magical community into a dark age.

Hogwarts did only accept purebloods in its halls now. Many muggle-born witches and wizards were executed on false pretense when they decided to leave Britain. Even the muggle governments started to get an idea that something was wrong.

Jonathan Umbridge painted a picture of a dark Harry Potter that had left the magical world behind after his revolt in Hogwarts. After using it to manifest his evil ideals.

Neville sighed and took a sip of his tea.

"The executed almost all of the Weasley family. Only Bill and Charlie were able to flee."

Neville's voice was hoarse when he said.

"When the Ministry started this campaign, Hermione did everything she could to counteract the false rumors. She was quite successful at first, rallying many people to her cause. Most of your old supporters flocked to her side, trying to restart the Order of the Phoenix. It worked well for the time. But with the full backing of the Ministry, Minister Umbridge found their hiding place about a year later. 26 Wizards were executed that day. Including Hermione, Ron, Kingsley, Mad-eye and many others. It was the end of the resistance"

Neville let shameful hang his head. "The only reason I survived, is because I was late for the meeting. I could not save them" A tear started to roll down Nevilles cheek.

They talked for almost two more hours before Harry decided he had enough. Hermione and Ron were dead. He felt guilty. He had never bothered to check on them after their last fight. Nor on any of his old friends from the order. And now with the whole ministry bearing down on him, there was nothing left in Britain for Harry. Except for Neville.

Harry sighed and took one of the scones Topsy had brought earlier on a silver plate.

"You cannot stay here Neville. They are gonna get you to. Longbottom Manor surely has strong Wards. But with time everything can be circumvented."

Neville looked thoughtful and said.

"I am prepared to leave when it gets ugly. My family has a small Castle in Scotland which is unplottable and it's location unknown to anyone outside the family. You could come with me, Harry."

Neville took the last sip of his tea and put the filigree porcelain cup down on the old looking desk.

"I plan to lay low for a few years. Maybe even go to America for a time." Neville said.

Harry carefully thought about joining Neville, simply living with his old friend for a while, but in the end, decided against it.

"I'm grateful for the offer Neville. But I don't fancy staying in Great Britain. I think I' ll keep traveling the world. There are many wonders out there to explore. And I want to see as many of them as possible."

Harry smiled and slowly stood up. He straightened his shirt and said

"I have something for you. If you ever need my help or want to talk you can reach me with it."

Harry summoned his suitcase from the ring and enlarged it on the thick red carpet laying on the floor. He pressed his thumb on the first lock and spoke the parseltongue password. It was the same compartment from where he had taken his vault key. He stored most of his old and nondangerous items in here. He pulled two small mirrors out and handed one to Neville.

"Two-way mirrors I enchanted myself. If you speak my name into the mirror I should hear you and be able to talk to you and see you."

Neville took the mirror with a grateful look. "Thank you. I will make sure to keep it safe. I wish you the best Harry. And I hope that we will see us again one day."

Harry put on his black coat and buttoned it up.

Neville shook Harry's hand strongly when he led him through the door

"Farewell Harry"

Harry grasped Neville's hand and said

"you too Neville. Be careful and stay low."

The young immortal made his way down the entryway and apparated away after crossing the estates boundaries.


	3. leaving

Scotland Hogwarts

The ceiling of the Great Hall showed signs of a coming storm. With only a few lit candles near the head table, the big hall was almost completely wrapped in darkness. thunder started rolling and lightning bolts flashed on the ceiling.

On the throne-like chair in the middle of the great hall, at the head table, sat a person shrouded in a strange cloak. Although the man did not move, it seemed as if the cloak did. Fine ripples spread across its surface and in some places, it seemed as if a snake was moving beneath it, only for the cloak to billow and show that there was only a man wearing black clothes. There was no real way to describe the fabric. It looked the same as the sky did at night. Mainly a deep, all-consuming black with little twinkles that shone like stars.

The calm silence was broken when the heavy wooden entrance doors to the hall opened and a small goblin came through. With a small stature, even for a goblin, and exceptionally long, pierced ears the creature would look funny. Were it not for the big axe strapped to his back, the leather belt with 4 throwing knives attached and a big ugly scar that went over most of his face.

The small warrior swiftly made his way to the end of the Hall to the Head table and bowed respectfully before the man sitting on the grand Chair.

"We have prepared everything, my Lord. My clan will be ready to travel on the morrow."

Waiting for an answer the goblin stood still. It did not do to seem impatient to his Lord.

The man lifted both hands up to the table and started tapping with one finger on the wood. After three taps he spoke with a deep and commanding voice.

"All the gold and the artifacts of the vaults and the castle are safely stored and shrunk? What about the animals we are to take with us Bakhook?"

Without missing a beat the goblin responded in a strong voice.

"We have packed and prepared everything as you decreed. The animals are in stasis and shrunk. The only thing we will have to leave here are the sets of armor scattered throughout the school. They are imbued with strong spells that make it impossible to shrink them"

Bakhook gnashed his teeth and said with a visible scowl

"Even our best curse breakers have not been able to lift them. A lot was lost in the Fall."

Harry Potter stood up from his old headmaster's seat and let his gaze roam the empty Hall.

His face looked almost the same as it did 323 years ago. Only his beard seemed a lot thicker. But he kept it well groomed. He had a stern look on his face when his stormy gaze settled on the goblin.

"Then it is time. Tell all of your clan to gather in the courtyard. I will perform the transformation and stasis spells on you."

Bakhook bowed and answered.

"yes my Lord"

While Bathook silently left the great hall, Harry took a moment to revel in old memories.

The last 200 hundred years after the Fall had been brutal. In the last moments of the Fall, he had saved Griphook and his goblin clan. Harry and the goblins took residence in the by then abandoned Hogwarts Castle. It had been raided and ravaged during the war. But the wards were still intact and with a boost of Harry's magic, they stood as powerful as the day they were built.

The war between the muggles and the magical had devastated the Planet. Many of the wonders Harry had seen and loved were now destroyed. Humanity at large had been thrown back into a dark age where man fought a man over scraps of food. All ethical and morals advancement were wiped away. Only the strongest had survived.

It had all started incredible stupid.

Some idiot had broken the statue of secrecy on a live stream with millions of viewers which prompted a war between the magical and the mundane world. Harry was hated from both sides for declining to join either side at the beginning.

By now Harry was proficient with both Sword and Mace. In combination with his large amount of magical power, he made for a deadly warrior. The Goblin forged weaponry and armor were a great boon to, as they had ensured minimal casualties from the goblins.

While Griphook had died some 200 years ago, his clan had grown strong. Many goblin survivors had fled their burning underground caves in the years after the Fall, looking for protection inside the boundaries of Hogwarts.

Now the Clan had almost a thousand members. They made for an intimidating force.

Harry shook his head to free himself of his thoughts. All this would not be important any more shortly. He planned to leave all this behind in search of a new future. He could not say why but he knew it would work. And on the remote chance, it did not. Well, there was not much to lose anyway. Even the goblins were sick of the burning world.

Harry strode down the middle of the great hall with long strides. Deaths cloak billowing around him. He made his way to the Entrance Hall and out into the courtyard, passing the broken hourglasses for the former House points, the gems having been looted a long time ago.

There was a mass of Goblins assembled. Harry strode to the middle of the assembly and conjured a rock to stand on. He stepped up and with a swish of his hand cast a sonorous charm on his throat.

He gathered his thoughts for a second before he started with iron conviction in his voice.

"Today is the day we leave this world. We will leave the misery and the despair behind for a new adventure. And I am grateful for your trust and help with this. I will now put you all in stasis and then transform and shrink you. You will be perfectly safe, and I will defend you with my life. As soon as we arrive and I have found a suitable place, I will return you to your normal state."

Harry turned around to a large pile that lay at the end of the courtyard. There were many magical suitcases. And every Goblin had a backpack. He wanted to make sure nothing went wrong here. So he pulled out the Elder Wand from his holster and shrank everything in the pile to the size of a small marble. He had truly accepted the ownership of the powerful wand quite a while ago. He summoned the marble and placed it with a sticking charm on his chest. He was not sure if his clothes would survive. Better not risk it.

For the next part, he definitely wanted to use his wand. He cast a long and tedious Spell and put the Goblin clan into stasis. He then carefully transfigured them into tiny puzzle pieces forming another a small marble. Harry stuck the marble next to the first one on his chest.

Now he was standing alone in the courtyard. He thought about commanding the suits of armor to come so he could find a way to shrink them. But ultimately decided against it. It would take a long time and he was not sure if he could even break the enchantments.

After deciding against it, he apparated into the deepest bowels of Gringotts.

Harry appeared right in front of the statue of the reaper. The original Cave entrance had long ago been sealed by the goblins.

Harry opened the massive Gates with a wink of his hand and entered the Vault. The Archway stood at the same place as before. It seemed to pull him to it. The whispering voices normally inaudible clearly called for him. He did not think long or waited for something. He strode purposefully through the Veil.

For a moment he thought he had simply stepped through and came out on the other side. The ground beneath him was solid. But a moment later he realized hew as not in his Vault any more. It was dark, and there was some sort of fog on the ground. But otherwise, he could not see anything else.

His cloak started to glow an ominous white light and lit up more of the surrounding area.

Yet there was only more fog to see. His wand in the holster started to vibrate lightly. And he could feel the black stone he wore on a chain around his neck getting warm.

A deep and raspy voice that vibrated through his whole being spoke from the dark.

"Greetings Mr. Potter. I have waited for quite some time to meet you. May I ask how you knew where to go?"

Harry could not stop the ice cold feeling that crept up his spine.

"I did not know. Not really at least. I always felt the pull of the veil. It became stronger the more years went by. And at some point, I could feel it was the way to go."

A soft glow started about 20 m in front of Harry and illuminated the form of men of average height. Harry could not make out any features of the man nor what clothes he wore. But the deity pulsated with raw power. Power the like Harry had never seen before.

"Hmm, interesting. I thought you would need a few hundred years more to overcome your fear of the unknown." the raspy voice spoke from the outline of the deity.

"However you are here now and it' s time to tell you what for. You gathered the Deathly Hallows and earned your immortality. While many think it is a blessing. It is indeed more like a curse."

Harry wasn't sure what to do or say. Death was apparently a real deity. As was the story about the Hallows. He could not believe it.

"Does that mean I am your master now?" Harry asked somewhat skeptical.

There was a moment of eerie silence before the deep voice of the god started to rumble loudly around him in laughter.

"I am Death. I am as old as Time and Space itself. No mortal will ever command me."

the god became serious again.

"No that' s one of your human stories. My exact words were …earn the Hallows to master death itself…. And you did. You are immortal".

Harry could have sworn the god was smirking at the end.

He relaxed a little and bowed his head slightly.

"Well, kinda what I expected".

This time the God gave a short laugh.

"Worry not. You are here for a purpose. I am pleased that you have prepared yourself. I will send you to planetos. The first of the worlds. There is an evil that has evaded my grasp for eons and it is time to collect."

The Deitys words about the evil beings were spoken in anger and he took a moment to gather himself.

"You will retain your magical powers. Sadly there are rules even for us gods. I can not give you any more powers. But there is not much magic left in planetos. What there is dark and weak. You should have a strong advantage. The only thing I can and will give you is this."

In front of Harry appeared a small stone dais. Upon which lay a sword in a black scabbard. The Scabbard was inconspicuously made from black leather. The Hilt though seemed to be made of Bones. And The Handguard had the Form of Bones on both sides. At the top of the Handle was a small skull with sharp tiny teeth's and rubies in the eye sockets. Harry warily walked up the dais, picked up the sword and pulled it out of its scabbard. The Metal was a dark black with silver ripples on its surface. It looked otherworldly.

Harry marveled at the craftsmanship of the weapon and was convinced that this was a sword worthy of a god.

"This is Bane. My own sword. I have forged it myself and the handle is made out of my own bones. It will serve you well. I have no need for it anymore and while it may take you a while to get truly aligned with it, it will serve you well once you have done so. Without further ado, I will send you now to your Destination. You will have a few Centuries before the White Walker awake again. Prepare well."

Harry wanted to thank the god for the godly gift he had received. But before he could say something he felt himself being sucked through time and space before he fell unconscious.


	4. Arrival

Arrival

Something was melting on his face. Harry started to feel his arms and legs again and opened his eyes. He looked up at a canopy of trees. Trees laden with snow. Which made him realize that he himself was lying on his back in a big pile of wet snow.

He wiped a small pile off his face before he groaned and sat up. He was in a thick forest and there was snow everywhere. As far and wide as he could see there were only big trees and bushes around. He recognized a few of the trees like oak. But there were others with green needles that didn't look like anything he knew.

And it was cold. ice cold. Luckily Death had left him his clothes. Harry cast a short warming charm and checked that the marbles and his ring-suitcase were still in place. Deaths sword Bane was lying next to him on the ground.

Harry could feel the wildlife around him when he extended his magical sense. The forest was teeming with animals. A boar family hid a few meters behind him in their small cave. Larger predators were wandering the edge of his magical sense. He did not bother too much about them. If anything dangerous approached him, he would be able to defend himself easily.

Since he had no idea where to go, and he was not sure that he could trust a conjured compass here, he grabbed his sword, strapped it on his waist and made his way into the direction of which his sense told him was south.

After a few hours of hiking through the snow, Harry felt someone in front of him.

The last 200 hundred years had given him enough time to fully develop his magical sense, as he called it. He first learned it with the Guinean Tribe. When he concentrated he could feel the ambient magic around him. Every living being was radiating a certain amount of ambient magic. With many hours of training, Harry was now capable of bending and using the magic around him.

One of the benefits was knowing when someone was near you.

Harry wandless cast a quick Silencio on him and let himself become invisible under the cloak, another useful skill he had mastered in his old life. With a concealing charm, he hid his footprints. He walked carefully through the forest in the direction of the presence he felt.

After climbing over a few big roots Harry came upon a clearing in the woods. The glade before him was wide enough to house a massive white tree at the center. The ground was covered with short grass and a few white flowers that were blooming. He saw many different birds sitting in the white tree.

On the edge of the clearing, Harry could see two big amber eyes staring at him from the darkness of the surrounding forest. It was a jet black wolf. The Beast was massive. At least the size of a horse it would surely reach to Harry's shoulders. Harry went into a defensive stance but did not draw his wand or cast any spell. With both hands held nonthreatening in the air Harry walked onto the clearing.

"I will not harm you." Harry doubted that the wolf could understand him. But nothing else came to his mind.

The black wolf warily walked a few steps into the clearing and lay down with his right paw extended, all the while staring at Harry with his amber eyes.

Harry was not sure what the animal wanted from him. He extended his magical sense to try and feel its emotions. Upon mentally touching it Harry felt a magical tingling in the back of his head and fell to his knees. The sensation was something completely new. He could truly feel the mind of the animal. As if an old friend had returned home at last. And it was clearly magical in nature.

The wolf, no that felt wrong. The direwolf knocked his head to one side and let his tongue fall out. If Harry had to guess the animal was just as surprised as he was.

Harry could feel a sting in the Wolfs paw.

"You are hurt. Let me help you. I won't harm you."

The wolf stopped to hatchel and stared at him intently. Harry felt disapprove through this newly formed bond as if the wolf would be offended that Harry thought he could hurt him.

"OK don't look at me like that. I'm gonna help you."

Harry walked closer to the giant wolf and started inspecting the paw still a little wary. There was a big piece of bronze logged between the claws. It looked like a piece from a sword or dagger that broke off.

"OK, this may hurt a little. Please don't eat me." Harry drily said.

He pulled the shard out as fast as possible and cast a quick "episkey" healing charm. He was not very good at healing spells. This was pretty much the only one he knew. And it was only helpful for smaller injuries.

Still, the wound closed and the skin knitted together. It looked still raw and red but it would heal nicely.

The Black Wolf stood an all his four legs and gave off a loud howl, pushing his heads under Harry's hands. Harry was right with his first guess. The wolf was as high as his shoulders standing on all fours.

"Looks like we'll stick together for now. But you will need a name" Harry said and scratched his chin in thought. "Artos. I will call you Artos. It's a strong name. Do you like it?" Harry asked the beast.

The Wolf tilted his head and let his tongue fall out again.

"Well looks like you like your new name. Okay, now I have no idea where we are nor where we should go. You don't, perchance have an idea where to go, do you? I need a nice and safe place to settle down my friends" Harry asked the wolf half seriously.

During his interaction with the wolf, he had completely forgotten the reason for coming on the clearing.

"The Wolf will not answer. But mayhaps I can."

Harry was so surprised that he spun around on his heels and summoned the elder wand to his hands.

The words had been spoken by a small creature that looked a little like a goblin. But somehow much more filigree. He had never encountered such a being. Was this the natives of this land? Or even the world. Maybe there were not even any humans here. He hoped there were. He liked good feasting.

"I have never encountered one of your species before. I am Harry Peverell. Would you tell me your name?" Harry politely asked the small being while banishing his wand back to the holster. He could easily enough defend himself without it. But old habits were hard to shake off.

"My name is Twigs. I am one of the last of the children of the forest. I have had a vision of your coming. Please follow me inside so I may enlighten you." the small green child-like creature said mysteriously.

Harry was not sure what to do and after an inner debate simply nodded and followed small leaf covered being turned around and walked up to the massive white tree in the middle. Harry turned around and addressed his new companion " Artos stay here and make sure no one is coming okay boy?"

The Big wolf gave a yapping yawn and lay down in front of the tree.

Twigs waved his hands and opened a hidden entrance between the roots. Similar to the whooping willow. They entered into a comely cave with two chairs, a small table and a bed made of leaves. There was a small cooking corner and a few utensils were laying in a cupboard.

Harry took place on one of the small chairs, which he unsuspiciously charmed with a strengthening charm.

Twigs set up a small pot of tea over the little fire burning in the corner. There must be some sort of chimney Harry thought idly.

When the tea was ready Twigs prepared two steaming wooden cups and set one down in front of Harry.

Harry took his warm tea and started speaking before Twigs had the chance to say something.

"Would you first be so kind and explain to me where exactly I am, what people live here, and is it everywhere so freezing cold?" he added the last part as an afterthought. Although a serious one.

Twigs was clearly suppressing a smirk. For the next half hour, he explained to Harry all the geographical details of Westeros. They were about 50 miles north of a grand structure called "The Wall". He explained to him that there was one kingdom south of the wall that was vast, but mostly barren, for only a few people managed to settle there.

Further south there were many petty kingdoms and a few bigger ones worth mentioning. The Reach was apparently the biggest and most fertile of the southern Kingdoms, then there were the Stormlands and the Westerlands, The Kingdom of the Vale in the East. And many sand tribes and clans in the desert in the south.

Twigs took a sip of his tea before saying. "Since we are now finished with the history lesson I will continue with my vision." Harry nodded not bothered that much.

"As I said I had a vision of your coming. I saw a young wizard with an ancient soul fall from the sky. There was a rift in the Ocean to the west and a new island has come up from the bottom of the sea. It is completely surrounded in thick fog on the height of the stony shore. The little man that look like children of the forest working hard in a big forge. Smithing weapons of war. And I have seen your eyes. The depth of the abyss, and the unlimited width of the sky twinkling with stars."

Twigs took another sip of tea before he said.

"To find the sanctuary you are looking for you will have to go South beyond the Wall. And from the West out to the sea. Where you will find your Island. I know not what powers brought you here. But they must powerful indeed judging from their gifts. I will have to go tend the Weirwood trees in the area now. I hope you are successful in your trip and that we will see us again, one day."

Harry was a little surprised at the sudden dismissal but did not let it show. He drank the rest of his tea and stood up. "I thank you for your hospitality and wish you good fortune for the future."

He bowed and made his way out to the clearing. Artos lifted his head from his front paws when he saw Harry exciting the tree.

"Looks like we are going further south boy. I know de way." Harry had remembered an old mundane meme and had to muffle his laughter. The Wolf would not understand. He had thought about apparating south of the wall, and shrink Artos somehow. But Twigs had told him that almost all of the magic north of the wall was not working correctly. To confirm if he had tried a short apparation. Besides a small pull in his stomach, nothing had happened.

He hoped it would work south of this wall. He patted Artos and together they made their way further south. At night Harry set up a few temporary wards and charms that would wake and alert him when something dangerous approached them. Artos curled himself up on one side of Harry sharing his body warmth.

After 3 days of trudging through the snow, Harry heard a scream coming from his right. It seemed pretty far away but it was unmistakably a woman screaming for mercy. Artos was out hunting. Harry started running through the thick trees without a moment of hesitation, enhancing the strength of his leg muscles with his magic. He practically flew over the ground and roots that lay in his way.

Shortly before he came to a small river he felt the anguished energy that belonged to the screaming women being extinguished. He was too late.

Harry burst out of the woods in breakneck speed and skidded to a halt. In front of him lay the ravaged rest of a small village. About 10 huts were standing around a small hardened dirt place. Most of them were burning now. There were bodies lying around, having been brutally slaughtered. Harry just caught sight of the ragtag group that stood in the middle of the small plaza. The apparent leader threw the young body of a lifeless girl to the side and laughed raucously.

There were about twenty of the Warriors. They wore thick fur and a few parts of bronze armor. Most of them had crude weapons like maces and wooden clubs. But the leader and three of his men had bronze swords and shields.

Harry could smell their stink from fifty meters away and saw red.

While he normally still tried to be a reasonable person the past fighting had hardened him. There were lines that could not be crossed by anyone. And some people did not deserve any mercy whatsoever. Harry had fought hundreds of muggles at once after the war. This group would not stand a chance.

He let out a battle cry and charged in the direction of the group. On the run, he summoned the Elder Wand in his left hand and pulled Bane from his scabbard with the right hand. Even while using the elder wand Harry did not utter a word when casting his first spell. His magic simply followed as Manifestation oh his will and a red bolt shot from his wand right into the group.

When the warriors stopped laughing and started turning to the new threat Harry had already overcome half the distance and jumped seven foot high in the air. The thick red spell slammed into the ground between the men and exploded with a big blast and a massive shock wave. The leader and most of his men were thrown violently around. A few landed in burning tents and three were killed instantly by the blast, but the rest was overcoming the shock and attacked Harry.

Harry landed in front of the first wildling that was taking a swing at him with his stone axe. Faster than the wildling could see Harry cleaved his right arm holding the axe clean off. With the following thrust, he sunk his blade in the brutes head. Harry attacked so fast that the Wildings stood no chance whatsoever. He parried and blocked every slash and thrust aimed at him and killed one after another of the savages. Already 10 men lay dead, either through the first spell or felled by Bane.

Harry was in his element. He had sheathed his wand already and relinquished the feeling of a real fight. Bane sang when it cut through the leather flesh and bone. Harry parried the Mace of an especially brutish looking fellow that spit in his face. Harry smashed Banes pommel so hard in his mouth that teeth flew. With the other hand, he grabbed the man's mace and use it to bash in his head. He banished the mace wandless at the next opponent and knocked him out cold.

Suddenly there was no one standing around him anymore. eighteen of the Wildlings lay dead around him. It was a gruesome sight. Harry sheathed Bane and looked down on himself. He was soaked in Blood from head to toe.

He cast a scourgify to clean himself of all the blood and studied Bane for a moment. It was an extraordinary sword. The blood pooled on the silver ripples and gave the blade an ominous look. Despite it being a masterly crafted weapon Harry had not felt anything special of magical nature besides a comfortable feeling and something he could only describe as contentment coming from the blade

The movement to his right broke his train of thought. The former leader of the group was bolting for the forest, after hiding behind a burning tent.

Just when Harry wanted to cast a spell Artos came running at full speed out of the woods and jumped the fleeing wilding. Artos broke the man's neck with one strong bite.

The massive black direwolf wandered over to Harry completely disregarding all the bodies lying around.

"Good job boy." Harry patted Artos head and stroked his fur. He eyed the ravaged village and decided to bury the dead. He separated the villagers from the attackers and buried them with magic in a big grave. The attacker's bodies he simply burned.

He did not want to camp here so they made their way further downstream and slept there for the night.

A few days later they came upon the wall. The Structure truly was impressive. He could not remember seeing something like this back on good old earth. At 700 Feet High, it loomed over him wherever he looked. He knew from Twigs that there should be one of the Gates somewhere here.

He followed the Wall in one direction for a few hours, before he came upon a big Westwood Gate at the Base of the Wall. Artos in tow he made his way over to the Gate. He had checked the top of the wall with magically enhanced eyesight but did not see anyone patrolling. Only a few lit lanterns swaying in the wind.

"Well boy, I hope my cover story is good enough." Harry had thought about a story to present about how he came to be this far north. He hoped it would hold. The Giant Wolf did not really help him there.

"You know, you are not making the story more believable." Harry Knocked heavily on the wooden Gate and waited


	5. The Wall

Thank you all for all the reviews fas and follows. It does motivate a lot :-)

I am not sure for how long I want to write out the time before the canon starts. maybe only a few chapters which desrcribe what Harry does, or I write them out fully in a lot more words. Tell me what you guys would like more. thanks thunder for the many comments.

supergodzilla: yeah he probably will. there will be no slash since I am not a fan of it. But because of Harrys immortality I will have to think of a good way to do it. And it will ony happen later when some centuries have passed, and he has established his reputation.

Mr. Shade : you are totally right thanks. corrected.

* * *

The Wall

After waiting for 20 minutes Harry had knocked twice more. This time strengthening his arm with magic. He almost tore down one of the Gate Doors. Another 5 Minutes later a small hatch, at about eye height in the gate, opened and the face of a gruff looking man came into view.

"Give me one good reason why I should not have ye and that beast studded with arrows boy". Said the man in a raspy voice.

Harry tried to give his voice a strained note "I was captured by wildlings after I washed ashore when my ship sank. I managed to flee when another tribe attacked them. The direwolf helped me and has stayed with me since."

The man behind the gate scratched his Beard. "You don't look like someone whose been taken as prisoner. Be gone from where you came"

Harry internally cursed and with a flick of his hand cast a mild confundus charm on the weak mind of Man of the Nightswatch.

Harry spoke in a commanding voice. "You will bring me to your leader now"

The watchmans eyes became glassy and he said in a monotone voice

"I will bring you to the Lord Commander."

He activated some sort of contraption and the gate started to lift itself up in to the wall.

As soonas the gate was completely open the man turned around and began walking along the ice tunnel. "follow me" he said in his voice void of emotion.

Harry followed him through the tunnel, while the gate behind him started closing again.

Shortly before exciting the tunnel he stopped and cast an invisibility charm on Artos. Harry stroked the Wolf and spoke low.

"you have to hide for the time I am talking with the Lord Commander. You are invisible, but stay hidden in the tunnel, otherwise you are gonna spook the poor horses" Artoses growled low.

Harry made sure through the bond that Artos understood before he excited the tunnel into a courtyard where many men were working on different tasks.

The castle was massive. There were many buildings, stables and barracks attached to the courtyard. Horses were being prepared, loud hammering sounds echoed from the smithy. In the middle of the yard were about 30 recruits being trained by very big man.

The Master at Arms must have giants blood Harry thought. He was at least 7 foot high. With grey hair and beard, a scar that ran from the bottom left through his right eye over his forehead and a large broadsword in hand that seemed to be the same size as his wielder, he made an intimidating impression.

While Harry climbed the steps leading to one of the stone towers, he felt the stare of the scarred man following him. He wanted to ask the soldier who this was but did not dare. It would be unfortunate if the question led him to overcome the confundus charm. Better wait for now.

Through a thick wooden door and up a narrow staircase they came to a stop in front of another heavy weirwood door. The Watchman knocked three times before he heard a deep voice bid them enter.

The solar of the Lord Commander of the Nights Watch was spacious and yet sparsely fitted. The were two doors in the back that must lead to the bedroom and maybe another solar. Harry was not sure. There were two bookcases next to the two doors filled with all kinds of ledgers and dusty old tomes. Behind the desk sat the Lord Commander reading a missive on parchment.

The Man looked just like Harry expected a northern Lord to look. Dressed in Leather armour and heavy fours, he wore a metal gorget over the armour, with the Head of a direwolf adorning the plate. His face was weathered and wrinkled, but he did not look a day older than thirty.

He looked up when they entered and Harry could see piercing grey eyes staring at him.

For a few seconds seconds no one spoke. Before the commander levelled his gaze at the watchmen and barked

"Bootle out with it, why are you here? Should you not be on gate duty?" The Lord gave his man a withering stare that must have broken stronger men before. The Watchman Bootle reagined his sense and started to sputter.

"ehhm.. this man was a prisoner of the wildling. I made sure to bring him to you Lord Commander Stark, so you can confirm his story." Bootle was shaking when he told his story.

Lord Starks gaze stayed on Bootle for a few more seconds before he switched to Harry and said. "Bootle we will discuss your behaviour later in depth. For now stay here to listen to this mans story."

The Lord Commander kept staring at Harry and noticed the bone like hilt of a blade on his back. He tensed slightly and his hand went to the pommel of his sword. His gaze switching shortly on Bootle to see if treason was afoot.

Harry had totally forgot about Bane. He held both his hands slowly up in the air and sad.

"You can take my weapon from me. I do not wish your harm. In fact, I am here to help you. And to deliver a message."

Harry kept his hands in the air while the Commander gestured for Bootle to take the sword and search for more weapons. They would find none. The rest was safely shrunk and stored.

Bootle took Bane with a slight apprehension, after seeing the Handle on the sword made out of Bones. Harry almost expected something bad to happen when the man touched the sword. But the sword stayed still. For which he was thankful.

The Lord Commander relaxed slightly and took his hand from the pommel of his sword.

"Alright since you are already here I want to hear your story. And don't try lying on me. If I find out you did, I will string you up."

Harry thought about telling the truth, that he was sent by a god to prepare for the second Long Night, but was wary of doing so. How would he prove it?

Time seemed to slow before stopping completely around him. The wizard first thought someone else had cast an unknown spell, before a voice like the wind in the night sky vibrated throughout the room.

"There is no spell that can truly stop time itself. At least not for mortals."

Harry recognised the voice as the deity death. Bootle and the Commander were as still as statues.

The windy voice took on a raspy note "I prepared for this moment in the last long night. There is proof, hidden in this Castle. The Nightfort. There is a hidden room behind one of the walls in the basement. You will know which one it is. Use a drop of your blood to open the hidden door."

Harry extended his magic sense to its fullest and started to explore the giant castle with it. There were many people in the Nightfort. From the highest tower near top the wall to the lowest basement people were working or in some cases sleeping.

And there a few feet behind one of the rooms in the cellar was a dark presence. Harry had never felt something the like. Not even Voldemort had been this evil. Harrys instinct told him to retract his sense and flee, but he was curious. The being was definitely in a coma or stasis. He had to see this in person. The wind picked up again.

"Do not underestimate it although it is shackled and can not use its abilities. Use this to give claim to your story. Keep it safe, so as not to loose the proof before it will be needed the most. A lot can go forgotten in the next 800 hundred years"

The wind settled down and time started to flow normally again. The two other persons in the room did not seem realized the chat between Harry and Death. Harry did not miss a beat.

"What I told Bottle was a lie. I was never a prisoner. But neither am I a wildling. I am a man just like you. And I was sent by the Old Gods with a purpose, and to deliver a message to you."

Harry was bending the truth slightly. Surely Death himself was one of the Old Gods. He said himself he was as old as time itself. And Harry did have a purpose and kind of a message to deliver. So even if this man could somehow detect a lie, he was in the green.

To underline his statement he unleashed all of his magic power freely, contained to this room. His eyes glowed and started to twinkle like the stars themselves. He emitted an Aura of pure power. He had dimmed all the flames at the start of his speech.

He held all this for a second after his statement and then let the effects fade.

Nightswatchman Bootle fell like a tree. Apparently Harrys show had been a little too much for the man.

Lord Commander Stark was pale and his Hand had went back to his sword. But he did not show any signs of fear.

"While your show was impressive, I am not easily fooled by a bit of magic. If you cannot prove your statement immediately, I will throw you off the wall. The Old Gods are not invoked easily."

he said with clear fury in his voice.

Harry lowered his hands to his side and in a steady and clear voice said.

"I do have proof for my claim. And I will show it to you to ease your worries. What we seek is hidden in the deepest bowels of this castle. Left here in the last long night to serve as a warning and a reminder for when it would be needed."

Harry stayed calm after his statement and waited for an answer.

The Lord Commander kept staring at the wizard while he slowly stood up and walked to the small window.

He barked down to the courtyard "Rickon grab 4 good men and come up here. Now"

Harry tensed slightly but could not feel any malice coming from the Commander. He was probably just wary. They waited for a few moments, with the Commander giving, the still unconscious, Bootle a sneer.

The ruff Northman directed his gaze back to Harry and forcefully said. "Don't you move a muscle till my men are here. We'll get to the bottom of this. And if this is the hoax I think it is, I will take your head myself for lying to me". He was definitely angry.

Harry did only nod and held his hands at his side.

A few moments later 5 men came into the room. Four of them were ordinary looking Watchmen. And the last one was the grim looking Master at-Arms from earlier. The Man threw Harry a piercing stare, before he slightly nodded his head in the direction of the Lord Commander and respectfully said.

"Lord Commander"

The Commander walked away from the window to the middle of the room and said in a grime tone.

"We will check upon something in the cellar. Your will keep an eye on our guest here and make sure he does not do anything stupid. If he does, lop off his head. And be careful, he is capable of magic."

The master at arms and his men watched Harry, who stood calmly in the middle of the 6 men, warily but did not say anything except a short "of course my Lord" from the commander.

They made their way down multiple stairs and through many weirwood doors. Before coming to a dimly lit cellar that held multiple barrels of wine and ale, and many stacked sacks of grains. Walking to the wall furthest away from the entrance door, Harry was looking for something that helped him find the entrance.

After searching for a while, Harry moved an old rotting barrel of wood, and saw something being chiselled in the wall behind it. He did not want to use any magic here with these wary men, so he moved the rest of the barrels and sacks until he stood in front of a 6 foot wide part of the back wall. The stone was damp and mossy. It felt old. Harry brushed his hands along the engraved symbol, which was about the size of his palm in the middle of the wall at 5 foot height, and cleared it of the gathered dirt and moss.

He recognised it almost immediately. Here in a castle that was thousands of years old in a frozen wasteland, was the symbol of the deathly hollows engraved on to the wall. The edges of the symbol were as clear as they day they were made. While the wall itself showed some tear, the symbol was without any decay.

Harry traced his fingers along the edges and called out.

"I have found it. Does anyone of you recognise this symbol?" He did not think that they would know it. But it was worth the try.

The commander and his men came closer. He himself and the Master at arms inspected the chiselled symbol, while 2 of their man guarded the entrance. And another 2 watched Harry.

The Commander scratched his chin and said. "I think I have seen this before. Somewhere in my youth in Winterfell. But I cannot exactly remember where." he said with a thoughtful expression on his face.

"Never seen this before" grunted the master at arms.

Before they could chastise him for wasting their time Harry cut his finger on the sharp edge of the symbol, and smeared it on the stonewall.

For a second nothing happened and the Commander and master at arms looked at Harry weirdly.

The symbol on the wall soaked up the blood and started to glow. The Wall before them split open with the bricks moving and rearanging themselves to an open archway 10 foot heigh and 5 foot wide.

Stairs were leading down somewhere behind the archway. A damp grey mist cam forth from the cave hugging the ground. The escaping air was not stale, as expected from an 8000 year old tomb, but fresh like on the highest mountain in the north. With an icy gust of wind from the cave the fog dissipated and cleared the entrance.

"Well my proof is waiting down there" Harry said only a little smug.

The Lord Commander his master at arms and his men were all gaping with open mouths. The first to regain control over his facial muscles was the Commander.

"You four guard the door and let no one enter. Under no circumstances. Don't talk a word about what you have seen here." He directed his words at the four guardsmen. They obeyed immediately and left the cellar.

He unsheathed his sword and said.

"go ahead. We will see if you were truly sent by the old gods." Harry felt that he started to believe him. But the man still held a steely resolve in his grey eyes.

"Rickon stay by my side" He ordered his companion.

The addressed man nodded but still kept looking wearily at Harry with wide eyes.

Harry grabbed a torch from on of the pillars in the cellar and started to make his way down the stairs. Only a few steps later the group reached a cavern like room which was completely dark with something stone like softly glowing in a soft white.

Harry walked with echoing steps up to the stone dais in the middle and looked upon, what looked like a stone sarcophagus. His two watchers were following him warily a few steps behind. When Harry was only a few steps away he could see the lid of the sarcophagus was made out of some sort of crystal or glass.

He recoiled. In the Sarcophagus lay the form of a man. He was completely white like snow and ice. His hands had five fingers. But they were claw like. His eyes were closed. Harry felt from the dark presence that he was imprisoned in a magical coma.

He stepped closer despite his senses telling him not do. He had to get used to these creatures to be able to fight them. The coming of the Walkers was still around 800 years away according to Death. Harry had enough time to prepare.

The stasis and binding spell around the walker were still pristine. Death himself must have cast the spell. No human could have had that much power.

As soon as the northmen were close enough to see the Walker they both recoiled strongly.

The Lord Commander cursed and gripped the pommel of his sword harder. His master at arms startled a cry and took a downwards swing with his sword on the glass lid of the sarcophagus.

Harry reacted fast. He transformed one of his fingers to living steel and blocked the sword blow with a loud clang.

"We need this. This is the proof to win over the realms that the real enemy is coming. It is bound and in an unbreakable sleep. See reason man." Harry pressed between clenched teeth.

Transfiguring ones own body parts was never the best solution. Harry returned his finger back to normal without any damage though.

Rickard starred at him with open eyes and let his sword hang down limply.

"How… why...HOW? He stammered.

"As your commander said, I'm capable of magic." Harry said a little annoyed.

Harry inspected the body and its case a little further without minding the other two men. All the while the Lord Commander just stood there with a stormy look on his face and determination started to take hold.

"You have spoken the truth. Tell me your message" he spoke grimly.

Harry turned to him and answered "Worry not. The old enemy will not wake for another 800 years. I am here to warn you. The watch has already forgotten its true purpose. You are the shield of men. The Watcher in the Darkness. Remember your true purpose. Prepare and make sure the watch will be ready when it comes to shove."

He could see the expression of the commander and the master at arms harden.

"The Watch has declined, yes. Yet we still stand strong. But I can see your point. I will make sure the Watch stands solid and understands its purpose. Would you tell me your name harbinger?"

said the commander in a strong voice.

Harry nodded "my name is Harry of house Peverell. An old forgotten house. I will entrust you with the safe keeping of this tomb. It will stay open so everybody can confirm the truth for himself. Guard it well."

The tomb itself could not actually be destroyed with swords and hammers. Harry still thought it could not hurt for them to be careful.

The Commander nodded and spoke "Lord Peverell I thank you for the warning. I will keep my word. Now let us leave this forsaken place" he spoke the last words with disdain while looking at the walker.

Harry stayed for a few more hours to talk a bit more with the Commander. They retreated back to the solar. The Commander told him of his family, the Starks. His brother was the Winter King in the North, with his seat at Winterfell, and he could gather all the northern Lords to witness the abomination in the crypt. Harry accepted to deliver a letter to the Commanders brother and to stand as witness to the truth of what was written.

He spent the night in a room with a small hearth that had a fire going. Before going to bed he went outside and fed Artos some scraps from the table. He was not happy that he couldn't hut. But bore it with dignity.

Harry declined the offer of a Horse saying he had his own means of travelling. And made hiy way out of the castle next day. He felt Artos slipping by him when he walked through the south gate.

He would come back here at one point.

Harry walked comfortably, Artos in tow, for a few hours before he made a stop a good few meters of the road, blocked off from view with a few trees and bushes.

He took his suitcase and enlarged it. After a bit of rummaging he found what he was looking for.

He pulled out a small Broom. After enlarging it Harry held probably the last existing Firebolt in his hands.

Before he took off he whistled for Artos who ways laying near him under a tree guarding the area. Artos stood up lazily and trottet to Harry. He nuzzled his Head on Harrys theigh and gave of a low howl.

"You have to stay in these Woods for a few days. I will come back soon. I trust you to look after yourself." Harry said with a small smirk to the massive apex predator.

Artos stared at Harry for a few moments, not appreciating the joke, before hey lay back down on his resting place.

Harry had decided to look for this mysterious island first before visiting the Starks and travelling further. It was time to get the Goblins to a safe place and out of stasis.

Harry shrunk his suitcase, mounted his broom and took off.


	6. Iron-Shore

Harry knew from twigs where the island should be. He flew his Firebolt high over the clouds south-east. The short moments he spent below the clouds, he could see fields and forests full of snow. Untouched hills and valleys zooming by. Only a few small villages dotted the area here and there.

After almost 10 hours on the broom spending the last few hours searching along the western coast. Harry found the island. From high up on his broom he had a great view.

The first sign was the grey fog beneath him which lay like a thick ring around the island. It would be hard travelling through it without the aid of magic. The Island was actually a massive atoll with a decently large sized island in the middle. Although the island was rather far north, geographicly, the climate seemed to be mild and the weather relatively warm.

It seemed perfect for farming. Although Harry doubted the Goblins would farm any land at all.

Harry landed at the base of the biggest mountain on the island and surveyed the area. There was a small lake near him and the area look good to start his new place.

Harry knew the Goblins would want to come out as early as possible so he unstuck one of the marbles on his chest which contained the Goblins and lay it in front him on the floor.

He stood near the sandy beach that surrounded the sea and the trees of the forest on his left were a few dozen meters away. That would be enough space he decided and summoned the Elder Wand.

He concentrated and enlarged the thousands of puzzle pieces that had made up the marble. He enlarged them and transfigured them back to their normal stature. At last he ended the Stasis Spell.

The drain on his magic was so high that Harry fell to his knees, as if a brute had punched him in his gut.

His vision faded and he dimly heard a few gruff voices before he fell unconscious.

Harry awoke a few hours later while the sun was going down. He lay in a comfortable bed with fluffy white pillows. After lifting his head and looking around Harry realised that he was resting in a bed in a medical ward. Most of the beds and equipment around him were of a smaller size, likely made for goblins.

A large goblin with a monocle and a wrinkled old face made his way over to Harry.

He wore a dark brown coat that reached to the floor.

He came to stand on Harrys bedside and pulled a small vial filled with red liquid out of a pocket deep in his coat. He gave a small bow and said.

"Lord Peverell, I am healer Gorknasch. You have suffered from a mild case of magical exhaustion after performing the anti stasis spell. Your body had time to regenerate while you slept, and this pepper up potion should do the rest." he said in a clear scientific voice and offered Harry the red potion.

Harry took the potion and waited for the steaming effect to subside. He stood up and realised that he still wore his black leather clothes. His magical sense told him, that his cloak was hanging near the entrance of the makeshift tent that made up the infirmary. A quick scourgify later Harry wandlessly summoned his cloak and let the warm feeling of remembrance flow through him when the cloak slithered trough the air and hugged Harry's figure.

The Goblin watched the moment without any hint of interest on his face and patiently waited.

"Vice Clan Leader Bakhook has asked for you presence, in the temporary command tent, as soon as you have recovered Lord Peverell." The Goblin healer said.

"Thank you for you care healer Gorknasch" Harry said with a smile gracing his lips.

Harry fastened his cloak and made his way out of the tent. Two Goblin guards in full plate armour and regalia, flanking the entrance, stood rigidly at attention when Harry exited the tent. He nodded at them and wordlessly walked along the long rows of tents that had been erected at the Base of the looming mountain.

In the few short hours Harry had been out the Goblins had already done mos the planned work. They had erected a small city of tents. From small cooking tents to stores the goblins had thought about everything.

The wizard extended his sense, and found Bakhook in a tent a few dozen meters to his right. He walked to the tent that looked from the outside like the rest and entered.

The command tent only had one big room. There was a big stone hearth on one side and the walls looked like they were made of marble. In the middle stood a large heavy oak wood table that could easily seat two dozen men or goblin. Many parchments lay strewn over the table. Two dozen chairs padded with red velvet were arranged around it.

Bakhook sat on the right side of the table at the far end. Around him seated were multiple goblins. Some Harry recognised and some faces were knew. There were after all a few thousand goblins.

The Seat at the Head of the table had been left free for Harry.

They were loudly bickering when he entered. Harry could see Bakhook trying to regain control over the group, but without success. Harry walked silently along the wall of the room up behind the seat at the Head of the table. He imbued his voice with a bit of magic and said in a strong tone that promised finality.

" **Silence** "

He did not bother to let his aura flow. The Goblins knew how powerful he was.

The bickering stopped immediately and it became deathly silent in the magical room. All eyes were directed at him. Harry sat down and studied the faces looking at him intently.

It still amazed him how obedience the goblins were. In fact, ever since Griphook had sworn fealty to him almost 280 years ago, the clan of his descendants regarded Harry as their King.

They had never held an election or a coronation. Harry had never seen the worth in these things when they were fighting for their lives on the old world. And while he would always place his subjects first, he by now appreciated the power that came from command.

Stopping his train of thoughts he gestured for Griphook and said in a much more comfortable voice.

"You have outdone yourself Bakhooh. As I have seen almost all the tents are already standing. What else happened while I was out?"

Bakhook straightened a little under the praise from harry and said with his chin held high.

"As you said sire, all the tents have been erected. I have sent scouts to explore and map the island. The prospector have already set up a mining site and are testing the rocks there. So far we have promising results for iron, copper, tin and silver. We are sure that more will be found. The ground looks very promising."

"We also have something completely new to us at the beaches surrounding the island to the open sea. They consist of some kind of iron sand. We have already smelted some of it to test it. It shows consistency and seems to be of a better quality than normal steel when refined."

Bakhook gestured to a bookish looking goblin who wore glasses and sat at the other end of the table and said with a barely contained sneer.

"Tip-ket has taken a closer look at the climate and the plants that grow on the island."

the mentioned goblin enthusiastically nodded and almost lost his glasses before he said in a soft voice.

"It's a lot warmer than it should be at this geographically location, and the ground seems to be rich in minerals and nutrients. There are many magical plants that we know from old earth. But also an array of new plants and animals." he cleared his throat and continued "So far we have not discovered any magical species but we will keep looking." he ended enthusiastically.

Harry gave him a small nod and bid Bakhook to continue.

Bakhook grabbed a small parchment from the table and continued.

He shuffled the papers in front of him and pulled another one out.

"As our architects have been planing the general layout of the new city for quite some time before our coming we now only have to adjust it for the local conditions. The construction should proceed swiftly. We estimate that the city will be able to hold us goblins in about 6 months. From there it will easily be extendable until we reach the first sett of walls."

The goblin chieftain showed Harry the different plans and sketches of the future city. It looked marvellous. For hundreds of years the goblins had been forbidden from purchasing any land in England. Coupled with the statue of secrecy the goblins did not have the possibility to build any structures above ground for centuries.

While they liked their tunnels and caves they preferred to live everyday live at the surface. Now without all the former limitations they wanted to construct the city as a show of wealth knowledge and skill that the goblins had accumulated over centuries.

Since Harry had no idea about city planing he gave the goblins a carde blanche to do what they want. They declined the help of his magic, saying their own was enough.

Harry had only wanted one thing for this new city. He wanted to rebuild Hogwarts Castle with a few differences. Since he was not sure if there would be any magical persons at all on this planet. He did not plan a school yet. But he knew the goblins would press for him to take on the mantle of King of this new city.

He did not shy away from the title and responsibility. He knew that if he wanted to be taken seriously in the centuries to come he had to garner a reputation. And while he did not plan to reveal this islands for quite some time to come. It would make everything easier for this day when he were king.

Besides he was the only immortal one of his folk. He had to make sure that they stayed on track.

Bakhook interrupted Harry's musing when he said.

"We will build the castle at the highest point of the city, partially carved in to the mountain. While we take into consideration the plans and Layout of Hogwarts, we aim to make it much easier to defend. From magical and mundane attacks alike." The goblin had an almost manical stare in his eyes when he said that. They would build the castle and set up the wards. At the end Harry would infuse the structure with a massive boost of magic.

The goblins were free now. And no one would take that away again.

They talked almost for 2 more hours after that settling many smaller issues like food and water, until Bakhook shifted a little uncomfortable on his chair and said cautiously

"Many of my fellow goblin insist on officially crowning you as King. While goblins have never hidden their hatred for the old wizards. You are as goblin as a man can get. You saved our ancestors in their greatest moment of need and have defended the clan ever since. You are strong and honourable."

Bakhook rose from his chair and unsheathed the sword from his side. He knelled before Harry and looked up at him with deference.

"I Bakhook of the Hook Clan swear my sword to you, my King. From this day till my last day I will serve and obey you. As will my descendants after me. I will protect and defend you with mine own body. So help me Blood and Honour."

With the last two words he cut himself on the short sword and pressed the bleeding fist on his chest.

Harry carefully regarded the reactions in the room. All of the present seemed to be pleased with the proceedings and were anxiously waiting for Harry's response. It was a good move from Bakhook. Even if harry had wanted to decline, he could not do so now without offending the Goblins that had fought and bled for and with him.

Harry sat calmly at the head of the table and let his gaze wander along the assembled Goblins. He let the barriers on his eyes fall and regally stood up. He directed his glowing eyes at the still kneeling Bakhook and answered with a deep and penetrating voice.

"I accept your oath of fealty. You and your family will always have my protection and a place at my table."

Harry thought that sounded good, since he did not no the historically correct answer.

The rest of the Goblins present followed Bakhook's example and swore fealty to Harry.

The message spread through the camp at such a fast rate that half an hour later all the goblins knew what had happened. Many more came to swear fealty to Harry. Since the clan leaders had already done so, it was not strictly necessary, but they saw it as a show of loyalty.

The Coronation took place the next day. Harry had to leave it to them. They did not waste any time.

It was a grand occasion. The Goblins had built a big wooden dais in the place where the castle would stand in the future. Harry had enlarged the second marble at the last evening, since the goblins needed a lot of their stuff from the suitcases for the coronation.

Hundreds of goblins wearing finest goblin armour and weaponry lined the way to the dais. Behind them were the rest of the Goblins for once shouting and crying when Harry walked down the aisle. He wore new clothes he had received this morning.

Black trousers and a dark grey shirt made of Acromantula silk. On top a dark green basilisk hide west. Above this he wore parts of his royal armour. It was not finished yet so he only wore the Breastplate. It was beautifully crafted, yet had only few adornments. They were inlaid with a white shining mithril silver. In the middle of the Breastplate was his family weapon engraved. The sign of the deathly hollows inlaid with a black stone.

Apparently the goblins had already started the breastplate before the departure, cunning little creatures.

He walked up the stairs of the dais with purposeful strides. He let his magic flow freely and projected an aura of power. He looked like a King of old.

Harry kneeled before Bakhook who invoked some sort of magical ritual before he presented the immortal an old looking crown. It was made from an onyx black metal and had nine spikes that looked liked sharp shards of Bone. They had reforged it from the ancient crown of the former Goblin King.

There was only one black stone inlaid in the front of the crown. It was the resurrection stone. Harry had given it to the smith the day before, insisting it be the only gem on the crown. The triangle with the crossed circle was faintly visible on the stone.

Bakhook reverently said

"With this crown you will take your rightful place as King." He said a few more words in an old language Harry did not understand before he placed the crown on his head.

A fuzzy warm feeling enveloped Harry.

He straightened himself and let his gaze wander over the cheering masses.

He cast a sonorus on his throat and stepped to the front of the dais.

In a deep vibrating voice he spoke.

"I solemnly assure you not to falter in the face of the enemy. I swear to always guard our Folk and realm from every one that wishes harm upon us. I swear to always aid and care for you, till the end of my days."

Harry spoke every word with an iron conviction in his voice. He never faltered once and let his shining eyes roam his people.

"Today we usher in a new golden age. Where there is no need to hide and only your own skill and imagination set the limit. Every one will be free and I will not differentiate in judgement between rich or poor, between high or low born, or between man goblin or wizard. In our grand new city Iron-Shore everyone is equal."

Harry left the dais along the aisle with his new crown atop his head.

They feasted for the next two days straight before returning to normal duty. Harry stayed there for a day longer to settle some small disputes and lay down some easy rules for the mining and the foraging. He also commissioned them to start building an entrance to a vault system underneath the future castle. For now with only one vault to store all the gold, gems and artefacts they had.

On the fourth day Harry left Iron-Shore on his Firebolt on the way straight to Winterfell.


	7. Meeting King Stark

Harry headed west above the clouds. The wind was cold and he was sure his breath would have frozen if not for the warming charm he had cast. He was quite a bit worried. Apparently apparation was truly not a thing here. Not only north of the wall.

As soon as he had flown over mainland again, Harry had wanted to scout the surrounding sees flying forst, he had tried to apparate to his last position with Artos. After landing on the frozen ground Harry had turned on his heels expecting the uncomfortable feeling of getting squeezed through a tube, before he had dumbly fallen in the snow when nothing had happened.

For a moment he sat in the snow speechless. He stood up and tried again. Maybe he had done something wrong. Yet the results stayed the same. After a few more tries he could definitely say that he felt something when he tried to apparate. But it still only the small pinching sensation in his gut before it stopped.

Something stopped Harry from apparating. After a few frustrating kicks in the snow and a few more tries to different locations Harry had given up and mounted his broom again to search for Artos.

The smart beast had apparently known where to go. Harry started to feel his presence when he was only a few miles away from Winterfell.

He descended below the clouds and saw a road winding itself through an old looking forest.

Although it had not snowed for the last day there was still a thick layer of snow on the ground.

Harry landed on a small clearing near the road. His magical sense told him the immediate area was clear of any people or threats and Artos was waiting near the edge of the woods.

As soon as his feet touched the ground Artos came bounding over from the woods with his tongue hanging out. He almost knocked Harry over when he pressed his big head on Harry's side.

Harry laughingly stroked Artos fur under his chin.

"Yes I have missed you two boy. What have you been up to while I was gone?"

Before Harry could laugh about not getting an answer Artos ran back in to the dark of the woods, before coming back with another wolf in tow. This was clearly a direwolf too. It seemed to be quite a bit younger than Artos, but was a stark grey colour and obviously female. Her Belly was round.

She came warily and slowly on to the clearing, regarding Harry with a questioning gaze. She relaxed a little when she saw Artos begging for attention and pats from Harry like a puppy.

"You have no reason to worry. If you are a friend of Artos you are my friend too. I will not harm you or your future pups". Harry said in his most assuring and warm voice. He did not feel the connection he felt with Artos. But nonetheless what he had said was true.

The Grey wolf regarded him further for a few moments before laying down at the edge of the clearing. Artos went over and lay protectively next to her.

The Direwolfs must know a way through or around the wall Harry realized. Maybe Artos wanted to come south to see his Lady wolf, she was apparently already pregnant for a while so they must have met before. Harry scratched his growing beard and decided to let the secret rest for now.

Winterfell was still one day walking away. Harry started his march with his Firebolt safely stowed away. The direwolfs were trailing alongside him in the forest. While Harry was no genius he was by no means stupid. He was sure he could have thought of a faster way to travel than on foot. But he relinquished the fresh air and the peaceful silence around him.

As he came closer to Winterfell he started seeing some crudely built homes clustered around the surrounding fields. Since it was still Winter no one was actually working the fields. And many homes seemed abandoned for the cold season.

His two direwolf companions started to attract attention when he came close enough to see Winterfell and the adjourning Wintertown looming on the horizon.

A few passing travellers on the road jump frightened when they saw the beasts of legends trotting behind the lone man.

Harry did not enter Wintertown. He took the longer way to the Gate leading directly into the massive Castle. He marvelled at the structure before him. The Castle was almost as big as Hogwarts had been. The walls were thick and high. And the stone looked smooth. There were many guards patrolling along the outer walls.

The throng of people travelling to and from the castle parted when they saw Harry approaching with his companions. While he did not let his aura or the glow of his eye show, he still cut an intimidating presence.

Two guards in Stark livery were standing in the gatehouse and controlled the people coming and going from the castle.

They eyed the approaching strangers with the beasts in tow warily. Both guards lowered their weapons when the young man came close enough to talk to them.

"Stay there fellow. I will not have ye beasts in King Starks Castle" said the well built guard on the right, starring at the direwolfs.

Harry held up his hands and calmly said "I bear a message for King Stark, from his brother, the Lord Commander of the Nights Watch. These are direwolfs" Harry said gesturing at Artos and his Lady friend. "The Sigil of House Stark. I will leave them in your godswood." Harry said amiably but stern.

The two guards exchanged a quick look before the silent smaller one from the left shrugged his shoulders and said uninterested.

"This is for King Stark to decide. You wait here"

He turned around and walked back into the yard. A moment later three more guards appeared behind the gate and took position observing Harry.

They waited for a good while before the guard returned.

"King Stark will receive you. We will be escorting you and the wolfs to the goodswood to make sure they are kept in there." The guard said with a stoic expression. "You will leave your weapons here. You will receive them back when the King deems it necessary.

Harry nodded and gave Bane to one of the guards before following the apparent commander wordlessly through the Gatehouse. They soon passed another set of even thicker walls before coming into a big courtyard. To the right side there was a stable and a big smithy. Something that looked like a kennel to the left and the big keep in the middle.

Everywhere people were either working or training. Women were washing clothes and delivering food and water to the men. They passed the yard where the soldiers were training and attracted many a curious gaze.

One Soldier in particular was watching two young man sparring, and correcting them when necessary. The Northman was about 6 foot high and wore the typical northern mix of fur and boiled leather armour. On his chest he bore a sigil of a white Weirwood tree on a black Background. His hear and beard were snow white and his eyes were a piercing blue.

One of the young man was obviously the son or even grandson of the trainer. He looked like a younger and stronger version than him. He was of the same height but his hair was the same colours as harry. A raven black. Combined with his crystal blue eyes it made for a striking image.

The other adolescent being trained had a lean build and was slightly higher than the other two. He had a long face and dark brown messy hair. His eyes held the same striking grey eye colour the Lord Commander had had. He looked like a Stark as far as Harry could tell.

The young men stopped their sparring match to watch what caused the commotion.

The gruff looking man cuffed the boys behind the ears and loudly said

"I didn't tell ya to stop. Never let yourself get distracted while fighting. It could mean your death"

They both looked suitably chastised and returned to their sparring. Although not as ferocious as before, so they could keep throwing looks at the oddly calm direwolfs and the weird man walking Winterfell's grounds.

Harrys guide slash guard lead him through an open set of thin double doors in the inner walls, right beside the smithy. They entered onto a small path that led into an old looking forest inside the walls.

Harry stopped as soon as he entered the foreign place of worship and extended his magic senses. Artos and his companion bounded from his side right into the depths of the forest.

Harry crept further through the forest with his sense. Marvelling at the ground that was deeply saturated with magic. This place felt old. He could clearly feel the strong wards that extended from under the goodswood to protect the castle. They felt ancient. Older even than the one in Hogwarts had been. A lot older even. There were many spells and charms that made up the wards.

Even without seeing the ward stones and the runes Harry knew that this protection had been cast by a very powerful wizard or witch a long time ago. While studying the ward design Harry felt another stronger magical pulse coming from the white tree that Harry could feel at the middle of the small forest.

Before he could extended his senses even more to investigate the weird behaviour of the tree, he had never before seen a plant or a tree radiating such an amount of magical power, the guard tapped him on his shoulders and said impatiently.

"King Stark is not to be kept waiting. Come now I will lead you to the great hall where he will receive you." The Guard turned around and lead Harry through the entrance of the Castle in to a big hall with hearths on both sides of the hall. Different banners adorned the wall. With the biggest of a grey direwolf racing across a field of white.

There were quite a few people in the throne room. Most of the people waiting before the throne, in an orderly fashion, looked liked peasants with ill fitting and scrubby looking clothes. There stood a few nobles clad in fur and leather to the side surveying the happenings. Multiple guards lined the wall while two more stood behind the King.

On the far end of the hall on a raised stone dais stood a not overly grand throne intricately made out of white weirwood without any other adornments.

The Stark King sitting upon the chair looked the part. He was of an average height and had dark brown long hair that he had bound together. The King seemed to be about the same age as his brother, the Lord Commander. He wore finely made clothes of wool. Besides a grey jerkin with a finely stitched head of a direwolf adorning his chest, he also wore a metall gorget with the sigil of his house engraved. Laying around his shoulders he had a heavy cloak lined with thick fur.

On his head he wore a crown not too dissimilar to Harry's own, he had left his royal garb, armour and crown at Iron shore. The Crown of winter was made of iron and had nine long spikes in the form of swords protruding from it.

The King of the north had a clear-cut face with the typical grey eyes of house stark. Although harry thought they seemed to be a bit darker than the one of his brother.

He was settling a minor dispute between two farmers when Harry entered the Hall. Harry and his entourage of guards that had trickled down to two men stopped near the middle of the hall and waited for the King to finish.

It did not take long for the monarch to take notice of the mysterious looking young man. He raised an eyebrow at Harry and returned his attention to the case before him.

After speaking judgement the King raised himself up from the throne and said in a strong voice.

"The court is over for today. Any grievances that have to be settled today can be settled with my steward Verrick Stone. Now clear the room. My fellow nobles too" He gestured at a small thickly man holding a ledger standing at the end of the hall who gave a small bow and a nod, before sitting back down again.

Some of the nobles pulled a grimace before being grazed by the stone hard gaze of their King. They all averted their eyes and left the Hall.

After a few moments of silent shuffling only The King, a handful of his guard and harry were left in the hall.

The King slightly leaned forward on his throne and fixated Harry with a curious stare. The guard standing besides the door butted his spear on the ground before loudly anouncing.

"You stand before Edwyn Stark. The hungry Wolf of the North and Protector of the wall. The one true King of Winter."

The Guard behind harry pushed him forward with the butt of his spear and said with a hiss

"Kneel before the King"

Harry inwardly rolled his eyes and decided to make his position clear from the beginning.

He made one step to stand right before the King.

He stopped suppressing his aura and the glow of his eyes and let his magic shine freely. His Aura emanated power in its purest form. For the first time since Harry had the change in his eyes he pressed more magic through them to multiply the effect.

For a short moment his eyes seemed to be the only thing existing in the hall. It was not the kind of light a torch or even the sun gave off. Like an open door they promised an entrance to the afterworld itself. An abyss as dark and deep as the night sky itself. And like sparks flying in a smithy Harry's eyes twinkled round the bet with the stars themselves, captivating everyone in the room.

Even the guards who could only see his back could feel Harrys power penetrating their skin and bones.

Wasting away so much power was actually more tasking than harry had thought. Well it should not have been a surprise. After all he had almost laid his magical core bare and let his magic flow freely in his surroundings. He had to train that at some point. It would not do to fall unconscious in on of these moments.

Harry pulled his powers back until only a shimmer of his aura and a light comfortable glow in his eyes remained.

"I am Lord Harry Peverell. As I have told your brother before you. I am not here to harm you. I come bearing an important message. But I am not your subject. I kneel to no one. Only Death can make me do so"

The wizard said in a clear and neutral voice. He did not mentioned his title as King of Ironshore. He wanted it to remain a secret for now.

While all the guards in the room had fallen to their knees upon Harry's display the King remained impressively calm and unimpressed. He studied Harry with a careful look.

He raised his right hand and let his gaze wander over the kneeling forms of his guards before he quietly but clearly said

"Everyone leave this room. No word will be spoken of what happened today, or I will have your tongues" the King said sternly.

The guards first seemed to want to reason with the King, before his final words made them think better of it. They raised themselves from their knees and bowed before their king before silently leaving the hall with bowed heads. Not daring to cross harrys gaze out of fear of falling prey to the wizards terrible eyes.

When the thick doors closed behind them an eery silence took over the room with King Stark and Harry calmly studying each other. The King stood up from his thrones and walked down the few steps leading to Harry until they stood face to face. Harry had an inkling he should wait for him to speak.

The King gave a short bow and extended his right forearm before saying in a warm voice that lacked the commanding tone it had held before.

"It is an honour to meet one of the Elders. Your coming is a blessing of the old gods. There is much we have to talk about and something I have to show you" He said in an almost eager tone.

Harry was baffled. He had not expected such a reception. The Stark King apparently knew about him in some form. Harry urgently hoped there was no prophecy about him in this world.

He grasped the Kings extended forearm and let his magical barriers slip back in place.

"I did not know I would be expected. Your brother did not." Harry said.

The Kings face was grazed by a small smile before he said.

"My Brother left Winterfell for the watch when he was 14 years of age. My father deemed it necessary for a Stark to serve in the watch. And he was a third son with no prospects. He had never been privy to the family secrets."

The King gestured to a small side door behind the throne and said.

"let us adjourn this to my solar so we can talk comfortable. Forgive me for forgetting my manners as host. I will let the servants bring something to eat and drink as well."

They made their way for the solar with the king ordering food and drink be brought for his guest and him.

The Solar of the King of Winter was sparsely decorated. Only a large iron wood desk on one side of the room, with 2 chairs sitting on either side of the desk. Four comfortable armchairs stood on a thick rug in front of the crackling hearth with a small table between them. A big banner of house stark adorned the walls behind the desk.

Harry was pleased with how warm it was in the room. The King took place in one of the comfy chairs and gestured for Harry to take a seat in the opposite armchair.

"Before I shall tell my tale. I would like to hear this message of yours." The King said upon seating himself.

Harry did not hesitate and told him of the strengthening of the walkers. How it would take at least 800 to a thousand more years before they would truly awake. The North had to be strong and prepared when the time came.

Harry pulled the scroll sealed with the sigil of the watch from his pockets.

"This is a message from the Lord Commander, he asked me to deliver to you."

The King had listened with rapt attention to Harry's words. He accepted the scroll from Harry and unfurled and read it.

His right eyebrow rose upon reading the lengthy missive. His face held a stern gaze when he said.

"I will summon all my Lords to the Nightfort for a gathering. I will showthem the proof hidden there and remind them of our duty. I will make it a royal decree that such a gathering has to be held every 50 years, or when a new King is crowned. You truly did us a service when you uncovered the tomb. For that you have my thanks."

Harry nodded and made himself comfortable waiting for the King to speak again.

The King laid the message on the small table between them and started telling the legend of House stark in a gravely voice.

The King started to tell Harry how the main branch of the stark family had always known that wizards existed. When bran the builder had built the wall he had had help from a wizard hows name had been forgotten. The Starks and children of the forest had called him the Elder.

After the White Walkers had been beaten back in the long night The Elder had given Brandon the family name Stark and the eternal duty to conquer and hold all of the north to be better prepared when the others would come back and to never forget what was truly waiting far north. For they would return one day. The Heroes of dawn had only managed to beat the Others back to imprison them in the lands further north.

But over time the spells and magical chains would weaken and the next long night would commence.

The Starks had taken their given duty from the Elder to heart and had put this above all else. Everything was secondary to the one true goal. Dominion over the north. And so they conquered one kingdom after another. Even when the Andals arrived with their foreign religion in tow, the Starks resisted and in the end, were victorious. King Theon Stark did not see his duty fulfilled when he had killed Argos Sevenstar in the Battle of the Weeping Water. Nor when he had displayed the heads of his slain Andal victims from his revenge raid to Andalos. No the duty of the Starks would not end until the walkers returned again and were slain for good.

Ruthlessly crushing everything and everyone that stood in their way the Starks finally reached their goal and held dominion over all the north as the Kings of Winter.

The King stopped his narration when two servants entered with the promised food and drink. They both ate for a while in comfortable silence before the King dabbed his mouth with a napkin and slowly spoke.

"Our Ancestor Bran the Builder has left us with an artefact to never let us forget what is to come."

The King stood up and walked to the door with long strides. He locked it with a heavy key and turned to Harry.

"What I will show you now has never been seen by someone other than a Stark or an Elder."

He walked back over to Harry and came to stand in front of the roaring fire in the hearth. He brushed away the dust on the ledge atop the hearth and gestured for Harry to stand up. Upon closer inspection harry recognised a small chiselled symbol of a direwolf on the ledge.

He extended his magical sense and could faintly feel something originating from behind the wall where the chimney should be. The signature was barely recognizable as some form of old charm.

The King picked up his dagger he had used to eat and made a small cut on his thumb. After pressing his thumb on the direwolf four bricks in the wall vanished. Behind them was a small compartment that only held a dark black stone tablet. It looked like it was made from granite and was blank on the side facing Harry.

The King picked up the tablet reverently and walked over to his desk where he carefully placed it up side down on the wooden surface. Harry stepped up to the desk and kept watching the King and the tablet. When the king turned the tablet he immediately recognised the triangle with the crossed circle in the middle, engraved on the backside of the granite tablet.

The King was still standing when he turned to Harry and pointed at the same symbol that was displayed on Harrys chest.

"I have recognised you as an Elder the moment you stepped in to my hall."

"Whenever a Stark becomes King he has to swear on this tablet with his blood to honour the oath given after the long night. The tablet will show a message on the now blank side when it accepts the oath as truthful."

The King had a longing stare in his eyes when he continued.

"I remember it as if it were yesterday. The feeling when I swore my oath was incredible. I felt a pulse race through my bones upon acceptation. The words are still clearly embedded in my head."

" _ **The Gods of old accept your oath. You are the sworn protector of the north, to stand united against the cold that is to come. And the evil it brings with it**_." The King recited in a reverent tone.

He continued "this is the first time I have spoken the word out loud. It is not allowed to speak of them except to an Elder."

Harry continued to examine he tablet without touching it. His sense told him that it was layered with many strong charms that were hidden well. They seemed to be some sort of blessings and good luck charms. It would explain how one family could have ruled continuously for such a long time.

He turned to the King before saying in a thoughtful voice.

"This is a very powerful artefact. You have don well protecting it for so long. It is important you and your descendants keep doing so." Harry knew they would have done so anyway. It was probably their most priced position.

The King did look a bit put out when he responded strongly.

"It is a gift from the golds and Elder of old. We will protect it with our lives if must be, until the end of time."

Harry simply gave another nod before saying with a calm voice.

"I plan to leave in a few days. I would like to study your goodswood a little more with your agreement."

The King seemed surprised for a moment before he said.

"Of course you must be weary from travelling. I will make sure the servants prepare a room for you. Although I am surprised you would not stay longer in Winterfell."

Harry thought about his answer for a moment before saying.

"You know what is coming and you rule the north with a strong grip. I will wander this world to spread the message and to prepare the rest of the world. I am not sure where my way will lead me to yet." He said in a warm voice.

With this they ended their talk for the day and a servant led Harry to a spacious room at the top of the Keep near the family wing. It was comfortably but sparsely furnished. A spacious bed on one side and two armchairs before a hearth on the other side of the room. A fire was cackling in the hearth.

It was dark outside and Harry was indeed a little weary, not from travelling but flying so long on his broom. He decided to call it a night, he could explore the godswood and the rest of the castle tomorrow.

He locked the door with a wandless spell and let himself fall on the bed falling asleep fully clothed a few minutes later.


	8. White tree

Thank you all for the 62 reviews and the many favs and follows. I'm pleasantly surprised that the story garnered such an interest. From now on the story will pick up speed. It'll probably be one more slower chapter with a time jump but we will see. It may still change. Have fun reading the next chapter.

! I may revisit the bond thing with Harry/Artos after what happens here. Tell me what you think. If it's okay that way or not. !

thanks for the descendant thing, completeley overlooked it.

* * *

Taking the feast early at the servants tables, Harry did not see the King or any of his family yet. He had received Bane back this morning. He could not tell why but it felt good to have the sword back at his waist.

He strolled out of the hall eating a juicy looking green apple. Many of the servants were casting curious gazes at him, his entrance with the living sigil of house stark and the following private audience with the King, having stirred the castle. He ignored them all and made his way to the godswood.

Upon entering the old place of worship he started trailing along the path leading to the clearing with a small black pond next to the big white heart tree in the middle. So far he had not seen or heard anything of Artos or his friend. He would find him later. For now he had to get to the bottom of these pulses of magic the white tree had sent out. Harry sat himself on a big rock besides the pond close to the tree.

After breathing in and out a few times Harry extended his magical sense in all direction at once. The sensation was almost overwhelming. Although he could easily pull up his ability on a whim in a fight to either strengthen himself or pull the ambient magic from his surroundings, it was much more satisfying diving into it with all your senses and thoughts fully focused.

He felt the trees breathing and swaying around him, dew dripping from the leaves and flowers. Bees ants and countless other insects, too small for Harry to separate in the flow of magic, crawling in and on the ground around him. Somewhere to his right he could faintly feel Artos presence.

Harry focused his senses away from the wonders of nature towards the big white tree. It was still lightly pulsing and felt thick and almost solid compared to all the other magical signatures.

There was definitely a small magical core inside the tree feeding of everything in the forest around him while at the same time subsidizing where needed.

A web of magical threads all connected together to the tree in the middle of the old forest. Harry fully concentrated on the magical core of the tree and tried breaking into it. He had never seen any protections like it before.

Harry sat silently with his eyes closed on the rock besides the heart tree when he felt a mental probe testing his shields.

He opened his eyes with a snap and jumped to his feet drawing his wand. Wildly looking around for the attacker Harry could not see or feel anyone around him. And the presence of his direwolf companion was still oddly calm.

Although he had immediately reinforced his mental shields to full strength, the following probe was not simply testing. It broke through his shield in one swift extremely powerful attack.

Harry was catapulted into his mind scape which was an endless white field bordering a mountain range. On the horizon a castle seemed to be looming nestled between the mountains.

He stood on the white field alone, in front of the same heartree as in the real world.

His mind scape changed to pitch black and Harry seemed to hang in space without any source of light. Except the lightly glowing tree that was hanging still in front of him.

Slowly points of lights were starting to form in the branches of the tree lighting up the abyss like stars the night sky. First two, they quickly became dozens, hundreds and then thousands. They formed a map like formation in front of him.

Harry realised the tree had to be the one who had attacked him and therefore was semi sentient at least. He felt some form of ground returning beneath his feet while he studied the lights hanging in the tree. The branches formed a surreal 2 D looking pattern.

It looked like a map of some sorts. One of the points was pulsing slightly. It looked as if it showed where harry was situated on the map. While there were many of these light nodes, apparently representing weirwood trees, bundled together in the upper part of the tree map. There were only a few in the south and none at all over what seemed to represent the sea and more larger landmasses. These had to be the lands where these feared Dragonlords lived.

The northern part was cut of clean and there were no lights at all further up. Apparently the wall blocked some forms magic. Clearly not all as he had been let through without a hitch. Another defence against the long night he supposed.

One of the points further north-west started to flash very lightly. It was almost unnoticeably. Harry leaned forward and touched the light ball.

For a moment his vision was completely white before he realised that he was back in reality and standing in front of a weirwood tree. Only problem being that this was not the tree in Winterfell.

Upon looking around he realized that he was standing on a hill overlooking the western coast of the northern Kingdom. On top of the small hill in stood a massive weirwood tree. Bigger even than the one from Winterfell. Around him in a circle stood more of the distinctive white trees albeit much smaller ones.

Far and wide there were no homes or castles to be seen. He thought he could make out the forms of a ruin on a bigger hill in the distance. This had to be Sea Dragon point. Twigs had told him briefly about this place. It had been one of the only times the Starks had fought against the children of the forest, who were allied with the Warg Kings of Sea Dragon Point at the time.

He walked around the small weirwood groove. There were no other trees growing on the small hill. He stopped on the side facing the sea and stared out at the calm water of the sea.

Something like these trees had not existed back on earth. They were like a living network being connected on another plane through magic. Every tree and plant in a certain radius around one of the weirwood trees added power to the network. And he could use it as a fast way to travel.

He would simply have to take a few weirwood saplings with him to plant on his travels. Maybe he could even use the mindscape map of the network to craft a real map. He would check upon that later. For now he had to return to Winterfell.

Harry walked closer to the big tree in the middle and curiously stared at the carved face before he closed his eyes. This time he extended his mind probe to the magical knot inside the tree and gentle tapped on its outer shell. Almost instantly Harry was allowed access and found himself in the same mind scape as before with the tree map and the glowing orbs of light before him. He tried to remember which one had been Winterfell when the tree helped him.

As soon as he had thought of Winterfell one of the orbs In the upper centre started to light up. After touching it and the following short white flash, Harry found himself back in the goodswood of Winterfell.

The encased forest was still empty except for Harry and the two direwolfs that were now lying under an oak tree near where Harry had come out next to the black pond.

Artos lifted his head from the back of his lady friend when Harry plopped into existence. He gave him a curious stare with those deep ember eyes before lying down again and closing his eyes.

Harry snorted and said in a humorous voice "lazy beast".

Although he had not been away for too long most of the inhabitants of the castle were awake and seeing to their duties. The King had not said anything about his family at the meeting yesterday. He had probably simply forgot. Apparently meeting a wizard or Elder as they called it was something pretty special, Harry concluded with a smirk when he entered the Great Hall of Winterfell.

The tables to the side of the hall were sparsely populated. A few men at arms and lowly lords were breaking their feast. At the head table the King sat with his family. His Queen looked around the same age as the King, with a comely face, black hair and deep brown eyes, sitting to his left. On his right side sat the young man Harry had seen sparring in the yard the day before. To the left of his wife a young girl was half heartedly poking around in her scrambled eggs.

She had lighter hair of the same colour as the queen. Harry could not see her face as he entered since she was starring intently at her breakfast.

The Guards standing at the entrance of the Hall gave Harry a wary stare but did not stop him or say anything upon his entrance.

The Queen who was talking amiably with her husband noticed Harry walking up to the table and steered the Kings attention on him. The Kings face held a stoic expression. This seemed to be his 'King' face Harry thought.

Edwyn Stark gestured for Harry to come up to the table and stood up before saying loud enough for him to hear.

"Lord Peverell may I introduce my family. This is my Queen Marge Stark."

The Queen regally looked at Harry before smiling and saying in a small voice.

"It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance Lord Peverell."

Harry gave her a small nod before replying.

"Likewise your grace it's an honour to meet you."

While The Stark Queen did not seem to like it that harry had not bowed, she did not say anything or let it show too strongly. Apparently her husband had told her who and what he was.

Without missing a beat the King continued gesturing for his two children to stand up.

"This is my third son Prince Arag." he nodded in the direction of the youth next to him.

"And this is my only daughter Emilia" He said with a proud expression on his face.

Harry gave both of them a nod before addressing the son first with the words.

"An honour to meet you Prince Stark"

The young man standing before him had a suspicious look on his face when he regarded Harry. When he saw the sigil of the House Peverell on Harrys leather shirt his demeanour changed immediately. He must have known the sigil of the deathly hallows and what it meant.

He gave Harry a nod and reverently said.

"Lord Peverell"

The King seemed to be pleased with the tone of his son.

Harry turned to the daughter of the King, whose attention was now fully on Harry, her diner completely forgotten. She had a suspicious look on her long face. She had the typical stark features and the grey eyes. Harry guessed her to be about 10 years of age.

"Well met princess"

The small girl gave Harry a curt nod and said brashly.

"Is it true that you have two tame direwolf in our godswood?"

Harry chuckled lightly when he answered in a more serious tone.

"Yes indeed princess, there are two direwolf in the godswood. But they are not tame. Even while I can control them a little they are still fearsome wild beast that can kill in an instant."

The girls big eyes became a little more guarded after his words, but her excitement still shone through them. Harry turned back to the King who gave his daughter a stern gaze for a few more seconds before sat back down and addressed Harry in his grim kingly voice.

"I invite you to take a seat and break your feast with us"

Harry did not mentioned that he had already eaten and sat down opposite the King and his family.

Taking a small piece of bread and a little bacon he started to eat.

The prince finished his strip of beacon and asked his father.

"Father may I be excused early. I want to be in the yard before Lokar is there."

"I am pleased you are developing such a proficiency for the martial arts Arag. You are excused."

The King said proudly and continued eating.

"Be careful son" added the queen in a stern tone before shooing him away.

Harry looked at the King.

"May I ask where your other two sons are your grace?"

The Kings face took on a grim expression when he said in a dangerous tone.

"My heir Rickon and my second son Karlon are finishing off the rest of the latest attempt to rebel against the reign of House Stark." He took a big swig of his mug and wiped his mouth with his sleeve.

"My strongest vassal house Bolton and kin of mine House Greystark have risen up against me. We have already won the major battles and defeated the rebel armies, House Bolton has bent the knee after their last defeat. But our cadet branch the Greystarks do not want to see reason. They do not accept defeat and have sworn to always lust after Winterfell and its claim to the Kindom of the north." His expression became stormy and his eyes blazed in anger.

"As I have said before House Stark will honour their oath till the end of time. And if there is a clear threat to our rule, such as our rogue cadet branch, it has to be eradicated. Root and stem."

Harry only nodded and did not say anything. He did not let any judgement show on his face. He was no stranger to harsh judgements. After the years of the old fall Harry had to resort to sometimes drastic and ruthless measures to defend himself and his charges. After a hundred years of being exposed to attacks and deceit he had developed a clear morale codex for himself.

The same way Dumbledore had believed in second chances for everyone, Harry believed that there were certain crimes that could not be forgiven. Everyone who would attack him or his folk, or commit any ill acts like murder or rape did not deserve any mercy.

The King cooled down soon after and they finished their meal in silence. The royal couple excused themselves for the day and left Harry to his doings.

The next few days Harry made himself known with the general layout of Winterfell. He spend most of the time in the library going through old tomes and reading up on the history of was about the north and the old gods. But there were a few older and probably rare specimen that spoke about the far lands to the east. Some wrote about Andalos the homeland of the foreign invaders.

On his third day he executed his plan to create a map. Armed with parchment that he had charmed to be unbreakable and black ink he sat in front the heart tree. He did not know a spell that he could use in this case so he tried to go with the flow. He connected his mind to the tree network and held the parchment and ink in his hands.

He let the magic flow through both objects and immersed himself completely into the flow of the ambient magic and the tree mind scape. He tried to show his intentions clearly and will the magic to use the weirwood connections to print a map on the parchment.

He felt the trees reacting as one entity when they used the ink to form the outlines of a map on the parchment. After a few more moments it was done and Harry a mpa that was as accurate as possible. While there were not many weirwood trees in the south it was enough to define all of westeros clearly on the map. The north was even more detailed with every forest river and lake drawn onto the map. Harry had a few mugs of ales with the men at arms this evening.

He had decided to stay for a few more days since the grey lady friend of Artos looked like she would whelp very soon.

He had taken to watch the young lordlings spar in the courtyard with their master at arms or against each other. He had learned that the master at arms was from a small knightly barrow house that had served the Starks faithfully for more than 400 years. House White-tree named after the magical weirwoods were devout followers of the old gods.

The Master at Arms and his aparent son Lokar had directed curious gazes at Harry but did not talk to him.

On the fourth day Harry was again watching the young man sparring from a nearby bench, when the Master at Arms directed his deep blue eyes at Harry. He spoke in a deep and strong voice.

"You have a magnificent sword there my Lord, would you care for a friendly spar? I am Ser Glenn White-tree my Lord Master at Arms of Winterfell" he said the last part proudly.

Harry had started to get bored so a little excitement wouldn't be too bad. He stood up and face the northern man.

"Very well, but it would not be fair if I used my sword. It is not quite normal" Harry said with a small grin. While he hadn't thoroughly tested it, the metal was clearly of magical nature, he doubted a normal steel sword could measure up to it.

The big man nodded

"Very well blunted swords it is." The Master at Arms walked over to a stand holding several swords and randomly picked two bastard swords. He threw one to Harry and went into a stance opposite of him.

Harry had unbuckled his sword belt and given Bane to a squire standing near by. He caught the blunted sword and made a few test swings with it. For many years he had use the sword of gryffindor to battle against the mundanes. His magic had protected him from their advanced weaponry while he went into melee, and enhanced with his magic won all of his battle.

As with Bane he had to alter his usual stance a little and seized up his sparring partner.

The two boys and many of the bystanders had started to watch the two grown men sparring.

They both circled each other just out of reach of the tip of their swords. The Stark man acted first and lunged at Harry with a fast downward strike.

Harry had enhanced his muscles before the fight and stretched his sense in the back of his mind. Time seemed to tick by slower for him and the movements of his opponent became predictable.

He easily blocked the strike and the following slash. His opponent did not let this discourage him and started battering Harry with a line of brutal attacks, relentlessly slashing cutting and hacking at Harry. The Master at Arms was good for a mortal. Very good even. But after Harry had blocked all of his attacks and even punched him a few times lightning fast he decided to end it and used the next opening he got when he blocked a sidewards slash. He kicked out the right leg of his opponent and at the same time disarmed him with a swing of his sword.

He held the blunted sword at the beaten man's throat and said with calm breath.

"Yield"

The master at arms looked at him grimly before his features softened a little in respect.

"I yield. You have beat me fairly. Very impressive my Lord. I am honoured as one of the best fighters in the north, yet you have bested me easily."

Harry helped the man up and grasped his forearm.

"You have fought well Ser Glenn"

Many of the men around them and the two young boys were starring at them with wide eyes. While Harry was not a particularly skilled swordsmen he made easily up for it with his inhumane speed and strength through his enhances muscles. He would have lost without these advantages.

After the crowd dispersed Harry felt a small tugging in his mind, coming from Artos in the godswood. He gave back is training sword and made his way for the ancient forest.

On the clearing with the heart tree Artos was lying in front of the tree entangled with the grey wolf, protectively watching the small balls of fur crawling around them. There were four pups stumbling around their parents. Two were of the same grey as their mother. One was pitch black although still slightly lighter than Artos. The last one had a mix of dark and light brown fur.

Harry carefully drew closer and relaxed when none of the parents, mainly the mother, gave any reaction. He sat down before them and let himself relax when the pups started to carefully sniff the new entity before happily climbing all over him.

He stayed there for the rest of the day and played with the pups. He had made sure at the beginning of his stay that the servants brood enough meet every day. Harry was not sure if there were enough small animals living in the enclosed forest to sustain the wolfes otherwise. The pups were still drinking from their mothers teats.

Harry had a talk with Artos. Well Artos had not said anything, but Harry had received the feeling that he wanted to stay with his new family in the north. He would always come when Harry called but his place was here now.

He had stayed for two more days before readying himself for departure. The Starks had been smitten with the direwolf pups. After a moment of wariness from the big beasts the daughter of the King had quickly struck a strong friendship with the mixed brown pup. The grey female direwolf was hesitant at first but had apparently struck a similar fast friendship with the King. Even the prince had taken one of the grey puppies and had happily fed him scraps from the high table under the intense star of his queenly mother.

Harry had told the King and his family of his way to travel via the weirwoods. Although they did not seem to believe him they respected his wishes to depart from the goodswood in front of the old tree. They had also allowed him to take a few dozen weirwood saplings with him.

As a present and a way to ensure they could contact him he had gifted them with a small figurine of a white weirwood which he had enchanted. They could speak his name while holding it and Harry would hear it. He had coupled it with his wand.

Harry stroked Artos fur and fondled his big head. "We may never see again boy but I'm sure I will see your descendants one day. Keep watch on your new family"

The Direwolf barked shortly and all the small pups including their mother grouped together. When Artos started a deep and long howl all of the pack joined him. The pups tried but it was more of a whine than a howl.

Harry said his goodbyes to the family of the King before addressing the King himself.

"I thank you for your hospitality you have granted me." harry smiled a small smile.

"If everything goes well we will not see each other again. The figurine I have given you is only to be used in the direst of circumstances. Fare well King Stark"

The King already having given his words of departure could only watch, together with his family and the direwolfs, how the strange Lord vanished in a bright white light upon touching the weirwood tree.


	9. Founding of Braavos (1)

Aener Belaerys POV

The Sea was calm and the stars twinkled in the night sky when the massive wooden hull of a ship suddenly cut through the waves. Aener Belaerys, the third son of the powerful Magmar Belaerys, Archon of the Valyrian Freehold, was standing tall at the bow of the deck, in front of the huge dragonlike figurehead mounted on the front of the war galley.

His features seemed chiselled from marble and his long hair with the typical valyrian blond almost silver like colour swayed in the wind. With six and a half foot, he was tall and armoured in well crafted chain metal. He wore no visible sigil on his armour or his dark blue silk clothes underneath. An ornate valyrian steel Sword in an equally opulent scabbard hung on his waist.

While his face held an unreadable expression, his emotions were boiling. His elder brother and fathers heir had left the fleet four days ago with most of the designated escort galleys, the few war galleys, except the Berix his own ship, and most importantly with Brightflame, their only dragon for this voyage. His brother had had the foolish notion, to make sure nothing bad would await them when they arrived on Sothoryos. And as younger brother it was his duty to follow his future Lord.

His crew, consisting of men deeply loyal to his father, was working without needing any commands from him. He walked down the deck of his ship and came to stand beside the big steering wheel, starring out at the fleet following them. They were still out in the open ocean, and had at least a fortnight if not more of sailing before reaching the new land. The fleet he led included almost two hundred fifty ships, mostly Carracks and a few cogs, all laden to the brim with slaves and supplies for the new foothold of House Belaerys.

A sudden bright flame erupted on one of the trailing cogs and faint ringing of bells could be heard in the distance. The next few seconds could have been a spectacular sight if not for the horrifying feeling that took hold in his gut. What had started on one ship quickly sprang up on others of the fleet. Destroying the grotesquely beautiful picture were the clanging sounds of swords and the cries of wounded men coming from the ships closest to them.

After the first moment of stunned silence Aener turned around and bellowed loudly to the crew.

"Turn the ship around now! Ready the ballista and gear up, the slaves are rebelling!" His calm facade was replaced with a furious expression.

The captain immediately bellowed out orders for the crew to heave the ship and sail straight for the next burning carrack. The seamen on board readied themselves for boarding action with their fuming Lord at the front.

Aener had not drawn his sword yet. He tried to calm himself for battle. It would not do for the descendant of the noble blood of Valyria to die against slaves, because he had been out of focus. His teacher had taught him better than that.

They were only moments away from being able to board the first ship. He closed his eyes briefly and relaxed his body. As he had been taught by his uncle Aener, he strengthened himself and his body with the power that was inherit in his blood.

He heard the sounds of battle cries and planks being thrown. Aener opened his eyes and drew his valyrian steel sword in a fluid motion, splitting an unarmoured slave in half that had tried to swing over on a rope. Already splattered with blood Aener stormed across one of the boarding planks his men had laid across the gap and jumped on the deck of the slave ship.

He was not the first on the deck but his blood smeared demeanour made for an intimidating impression. He did not waste any time and mercilessly cut down the first slave that tried to skewer him with a spear. The Slaves had somehow coordinated their efforts and had overwhelmed the few guards on each ship. But most of them were still only armed with wooden planks and had no clothes let alone armour.

Aener cut through their ranks with wide sweeps, ignoring the ones armed with planks. The valyrian Lord was an excellent sword fighter. This scum was no enemy for him. It was a bloodbath.

The apparent leader, a big muscled man bellowed over the deck

"Die Valyrian slaver and rot in..hrrrg..uggh"

Aener had walked up to the last defiant man wearing the stolen armour of a guard and rammed his sword so fast in his gut that the man could not even try to block his attack, or even finish his sentence.

He ripped his longsword out sidewards and kicked the body away from him. He cast his gaze over the deck. His men were finishing off the rest of the rebels. Dead bodies of the slaves, innards and hundreds of litres of blood were being washed away by the waves crashing on the ship.

Aener cleaned his sword on the cloth of a butchered slave and cast his gaze out to the rest of the fleet. Some ships were completely burning. A few had been able to resist somehow and were coming in his direction. But most of the fleet, a little more than two hundred ships were already sailing north, away from him. He would probably be able to catch a few more. But while his war galley was mighty it was not of much use in a chase.

"A few man stay here to crew this ship. The rest goes back on the Berix now. We are not finished yet." The valyrian Lord said with iron in his voice and a determined expression on his face.

Harry POV

Harry had chosen the easternmost tree on the northern part of this continent as his destination when he had departed Winterfell. He was still thinking about the name he had chosen for his tree-apparation network. His meagre ideas had been flashing and tree walking. The second had sounded too much like something from Lord of the Rings, so he had decided to name it flashing for now. Maybe someone would someday find a better name for it.

The tree-network spit him out in front of a smaller weirwood tree standing alone on a hill, overlooking a rocky beach and the eastern sea. A few hundred meters to his right, off on a rocky cliff stood a smaller castle breaking the waves of the rough sea.

A small forest separated him from the castle, only a small worn trail leading through the woods up to the holy tree. No one was around that could have seen or bothered him.

Since there were no weirwood trees on the eastern continent Harry decided to fly over the sea with his trusty old Firebolt. Luckily the charms on it were good enough to keep it in a good condition.

For a second he simply enjoyed the fantastic view. Only moments away from sundown an old memory struck Harry.

 _FLASHBACK_

 _He stood in the middle of a small village made up of simple but sophisticated dirt huts. His dark black wizards robe swaying in the breeze. The sight in front of him shocked him. It was a late summer evening and the rest of the sunlight was filtering through the canopy of the thick jungle trees. Directly in front of him lay a pile of dead bodies. Men women and children slaughtered all the same. People he had known and cherished. People he had sworn to protect. The tribe that had helped him realise the true extend of magic and the nature around him had been brutally killed. Harry was boiling with anger._

 _The war between the mundane and the magical world had broken out a month ago. Already many muggle cities lay in run, either devastated by magical attacks or creatures, or nuked to oblivion by opposing muggle countries that had use the chance. It was the next world war where even the magicals took different sides. Some were ambitious young wizard or witches that took control of the muggle governments and some outright conquered a few of the third world countries._

 _Either way almost all the sides had tried to recruit the Lord of the Dead, as most called him nowadays. Since he did not seem to age after becoming 21 and had survived everything thrown at him, people assumed he must have made some very dark deal with his soul, for no Dark Lord before had achieved this. After unsuccessfully trying to mediate peace summits a few times, he had denied all of their invitations. The magicals had long ago branded him a Dark Lord that had to be killed or contained. And the mundane were hell bent for destruction. Nothing could stop them from their path._

 _Harry had decided to stay neutral and help the small people where he could. Which was the reason he was to late now._

 _A man coming out of one of the dirt huts to his side spoke in a mock respectful voice._

" _Mr. Potter. It's very nice to finally meet you. I have heard so much about you. I knew this would motivate you to come right away."_

 _He wore dark green wizarding robes and a cliché pointy hat. The man was of average height with a lean build, blond hair and dark green eyes. Despite his cocky words and his smirk he let a slight nervousness show and had his wand and full attention on Harry._

 _Right when the man had spoken and stepped out of the dwelling as many as thirty pops were heard around the dirt plaza and just as many dark clothed wizards and witches appeared in a circle around Harry all pointing their wands at him._

 _The man dusted himself off and said in a mocking tone._

" _Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Marcus Greengrass. Loyal servant of the New British Empire."the words of the man becoming more unsure as a dark aura seemed to grow around Potter._

 _Harry had barely heard what the man had said. Despite the dozens of wands bearing on him he stood still starring at the pile of bodies._

 _He silently said his goodbyes and bade them for forgiveness, for not being able to save them. Standing in front of his biggest failure he realized that not everyone could be saved. He should have set his priorities straight and been there for his people when they had needed him._

 _The empty feeling he had felt in his stomach vanished and a primordial rage consumed him. He closed his eyes and extended his sense in all directions, fuelled by his anger. Time seemed to slow when he summoned his wand with a swish of his right hand. He did not realize that his trusty phoenix feather wand stayed in its holster, and the Elder Wand, which had been stored in his trunk, appeared in his hand._

 _The black stone hanging on a chain around his neck started to glow and the cloak rolled up in his pockets slithered out and glided around his back and fastened itself. Harry did not become invisible. The cloak took on a deep dark colour swallowing the light around him. Harry simply did not wish to be invisible at this moment. He opened his eyes and unleashed his magic freely without any incantations. Magic simply manifested his intentions._

 _Before the blond man had been able to finish his words of introduction, Harry had turned his dark glowing eyes on him and used his wand to send a deep black unnamed spell at the cocky wizard. With his left hand he let of a shimmering shock wave behind his back, so strong his feet dug in to the ground. Red and green spells started to fly at him form every direction._

 _With another swish of the Elder Wand a silvery white shining bubble appeared around Harry which absorbed all the incoming spells effortlessly._

 _The blond man hastily put up a protego charm to protect himself from the unknown spell only to witness as the black orb simply went through the shield and hit him in the chest. He went limp and fell to the ground seemingly dead or unconscious._

 _As soon as the ominous shimmering shock wave touched the first men, they aged to white hairs in the blink of an eye before crumbling to dust, leaving only their cloths and wands behind._

 _Harry sank deeper into his rage and made quick work with the rest of the hit wizards. Completely foregoing any regards to anything around him he cast the most powerful fiendfyre he could manage._

 _Demons made of of the hottest fire and the most vile intentions reared their heads in different form of beasts. Everything in a hundred meter around Harry burned instantly to ash. In his battle trance he did not realise that he did not have to fight the demons of hell. In contrast to everything what was known, the hellish beasts of fiendfyre obeyed him almost eagerly to do his bidding and sow destruction around him._

 _After only a few seconds Harry pulled back the beasts and with a simple wish of the Elder Wand the hell fire vanished leaving only scorched earth behind._

 _Coming out of his trance harry and being hit by his grief, Harry realised he was holding the Elder Wand and started to marvel at the connection he felt to all three of the Hallows. With a simple thought the cloak covered him and went invisible._

 _Harry marvelled at his newfound power and decided to use the hollows from now on. The Elder Wand seemed to get warm in his hand, it felt right._

 _FLASHBACK END_

After only a few hours of flying east, Harry could recognise the shape of something big on the sea south of him. Flying closer but still high enough to not be seen Harry realised that the big blob he had spotted from the distance were in fact ships. A whole fleet of ships actually. Some were lagging quite a bit behind and most of the vessels looked the worse for wear.

There were no banners hanging on any of the ships and Harry could see many people of different ethnicity working on the decks. Only a few of the bigger ships looked as if they had any armaments at all. Even with his limited knowledge on the ships here, this did not look like a war fleet.

He thought about how to contact these people if at all. He did not really fancy keeping his magic secret for the rest of time. Better people knew to fear him and his abilities to some degree.

Nor did he fancy landing with his broom on one of the ships. It did look kinda ridiculous. His Animagus would make a better impression. When he first had found his form he had been disappointed.

A raven was not very impressive nor was it very useful besides simple scouting. He was a lot slower than with his Firebolt. He mostly used his form to relax and enjoy the feeling of being free in the sky. He had briefly entertained the thought of flying over the wall when he had first seen it. But he had been interested in the ancient order of the Nightswatch, and had simply used the door.

He shrunk his Firebolt and stored it safely in his pocket, enjoying the free fall for a second. He was high enough that no one would see him change. Swiftly transforming himself to his raven form Harry relaxed when the different sensations of the animal sense hit him. He smelled the salty air of the sea and felt the sun warming his black feathers.

He circled the fleet for a few more minutes to get a better picture of who sailed here. Most of the men working on the ships were thin and many had scars or even missing limbs. Still they looked cheerful and had hope in their eyes.

Harry landed on the crows nest of the leading ship and listened to a conversation two men were having with a women near the bow of the ship.

The women had a slender body wore a light silver dress made of fine silks. She wore big earrings in the form of a half moon and had piercing blue eyes. She had a beautiful face and a tinkling laughter. Her dark brown hair was braided in a long braid hanging over her backside. She was stunning to Harry.

Both of the men were packed with muscles and armed with shield and sword. They did not wear any armour and were even bare chested with only small clothes bellow. One of them had a bright red beard and a thick scar running over his face.

The woman stopped her light laughter and said in an amused clear voice.

"You should stop worrying about our destination and make sure that food and water is distributed to everyone equally. We will not have any strife now."

Both men lowered their heads in shame and the one on the left said in a strong and raspy voice

"You must excuse us Lady Nyri. But the men and women are anxious for their new home. Are you sure the Dragonlords cannot find us there? We cannot stop them when they find us with one of their beasts in tow. We were lucky we were able to escape, no one wants be be enslaved again."

The face of the beautiful women took an a serious note. She said in the same comforting yet firm voice.

"I have shown you all my vision. It is only a few days away. With good speed the Dragonlords will not be able to find us."

Before any of them could respond, Harry flew down and landed on the railing besides the three. With his black raven eyes, he intently stared at the beautiful women. She had a commanding presence and held herself as if she were a queen. But what intrigued him most was the clear feeling of magic that came from her. While it was only a flicker of his own it was still the first magical person Harry had found in this world.

The women stopped speaking and watched the black bird curiously. The men exclaimed surprised shouts.

"What is a raven doing here on the open sea. And look at its starring eyes. Deep black with silver twinkles in them. This bird ain't normal I tell ya" the other man spoke and spit on the deck.

Still starring at the bird with a curious gaze the beautiful Lady stepped closer to Harry and extended her hand to lightly stroke his feathers.

Before she could touch him Harry jumped off the railing and flew a circle over the bow of the ship. With a flourish transformation he landed with his two feet on the deck, back in his normal form.

The few men working on the ship and the group of three all stopped what they were doing and starred with open mouths at Harry. Only the dark haired beauty did not seem as surprised as the rest. She looked rather impressed.

Harry made a small bow and held his arms non threateningly to his side before he said with a grin on his face.

"I wish you no harm, I am Lord Harry Peverell, travelling wizard. You look like you could use some help, and I could use someone who can help me fill my map."

For a second or two there was no response to his statement and the only sound made were the waves crashing on the side of the ship.

The next moment the men on the ship regained their senses and collectively drew their weapons.

No one advanced on Harry yet. They seemed terrified of him and his magic. He was a little stumped.

The Lady Nyri made a few long strides before her companions could stop her and stepped up to Harry, she inspected him from top to bottom with a curious gaze, and fixed him with her deep blue eyes.

"I am Lady Nyri, I have never seen nor heard of you before in Valyria. We would have heard of a sorcerer with abilities like yours."

Her tone was questioning but respectful.

Harry spoke in a warm but firm voice."I have never been in the Valyrian Freehold or even on this eastern continent. I come from an island in the west."

"I planed on visiting the east and saw your ships from above. As I said you looked like you could use some help."

Harry did slightly extend his mental probe to gauge the feelings of the crew. Many of them were hungry and hurt. But there were no malicious thoughts or intent visible for Harry. He realized that he could not feel anything coming from the Lady in front of him. She must have had some form of training.

She still fixed him with her piercing stare and seemed to think about what to say. There was a moment of intoned silence before she nodded and said.

"We will see how trustworthy you are. I can not stop you from following us so I propose a deal. You will help us repair our ships and escort us safely to our destination, it's only a few days away when we will land on Essos as we call it."

"In return I will make sure every man and women that know something about mapping will help you fill out your map." she said with a slightly cocky tone in her voice.

She winked away the protests coming from the men behind her that still had their weapons drawn.

She was back to her commanding voice when she asked.

"Do we have a deal?"

Harry did not wait long and nodded with a big smile.

"Works for me, I have time and it should not be a problem to repair your ships."

For the next hour the stunning Lady had to calm down the nervous crew.

After she had informed the rest of the fleet of the new circumstances and told them not to try and kill the wizard, Harry went to work.

Casting reparos on groups of 10, he flew from ship to ship until he had repaired all of them. Every crew was stunned and in disbelief when they saw the wooden planks and steel nails fly around them and rearrange themselves.

After landing back on the flagship many of the crewmen were still in disbelief but had lost their hostile attitude towards him. They all knew no Dragonlord would have helped the former slaves or even talked to them. No they would have burned or recaptured them all.

When evening came, Harry was standing on the bow of the ship watching the waves crash against the hull. He was enjoying the sundown when a soft hand touched him lightly on the shoulder and a soft teasing voice spoke from behind him.

"Lord Peverell, would you like to accompany me to dinner?"

He turned around and saw the Lady Nyri standing before him in the same silver dress she had worn on the morning. It hugged her figure closely and accentuated her womanly curves.

She was barefoot with only a small silver chain around her left ankle.

Her face was soft and held a small smile, yet her eyes had an impregnable strength to them Harry had never seen before.

Harry lightly bowed and replied in an amused tone.

"It would be my pleasure my Lady"

Dinner was a quiet affair. Dining with them were them two men from the morning. The red bearded man was still bare chested and presented himself as Sam Redbeard the leader of the former slaves. The second man wore a fancy gold lined red tunic that did not seem to fit him quite right. He introduced himself as Lemmer, and was the Captain of the temporary flagship.

The men were a little anxious when they told Harry about their past and the reason they were fleeing.

That Lady Nyri and more of the lesser moonsinger as they were called, had had a vision about a sheltered place in the north of Essos. They had been sailing for weeks and were now only a few days away from their destination.

Twigs had only told him briefly about these Dragonlords as they called themselves. They were capable of magic as it seemed and practised slavery and even mass sacrifices. Harry shuddered slightly when he thought about the scale of what the moonsinger and her companions told him.

The fleet had originally been send out to establish a foothold in Sothoryos for house Belaerys, one of the mightiest families of the Valyrian Freehold. They spoke about how they had planned a rebellion for a long time, and had used the chance they got to free themselves.

The dinner ended on a good note that evening and Harry was led to his cabin by Lady Nyri.

They stopped in front of Harrys bunk door and Nyri made a step to the side gesturing at the crude door.

"I thank you for the help you have granted us. We all are very thankful to you."

She held eye contact steadily before she smirked lightly and made a small curtsey.

"I bid you a good night Lord Peverell."

Before Harry could thank her for the dinner she had turned around and left with long strides.

The next four days were a pleasure for Harry. The former slaves were mostly joyful people despite the many hardships they had endured. He deeply enjoyed the camaraderie he did not even know he had missed. From simple discussions about the weather or small dice games. Harry had even flown to the ships which had children on them, to uplift their spirits with little shows of magic.

On the early morn of the fifth day Harry was flying high above the fleet in his raven form enjoying the warm rays of the sun and the fresh air. Climbing higher on the cloudless sky Harry recognised land on the horizon. It was hard to see from up here even with his enhanced animal eyes. It looked like a vast lagoon with tall mountanous islands forming a semi circle around the lagoon with large trees growing on them. There were hundreds of islands inside of the sheltered lagoon.

Some so small one could barely stand on them, and other big enough to build parts of a city on them. The entrance to the small bay was wide enough for five ships to pass through with cliffs on both sides.

He could not see much more without getting closer, so he flew back to the fleet which was still about a days sailing away from the promised land.

Lady Nyri and Sam Redbeard stood on the deck besides the steering wheel arguing about something nonsense. Nyri had her arms crossed and huffed with an indignant stare.

"We are not gonna name our new home Red Town."

Harry could only hear the last sentence, before he landed with a flourish transformation and they both stopped arguing and directed their attention at them.

He watched them amused but with a calm stare for a few seconds before Red Beard could not hold it any more.

"And did you find it, what did you see?" He asked agitated.

Harry did not want to prolong so he spoke in a loud and clear voice so the whole crew would hear.

"Yes indeed Lady Nyri was right. Your promised land will soon be visible on the horizon. And it looks pretty nice I have to say"

He said the last part with a big grin on his face before loud cries of jubilation broke out on the ship. Soon more ships received the news and spread the message quickly to the rest of the fleet.

Around midday the first specks of land became visible. The sea around the fleet seemed to vibrate because of the loud cheers all the crews gave out.

When they came closer, the narrow entrance between the cliffs and the covering hills became visible. The lagoon itself could not be seen from here. Large pine trees growing on the cliffs further blocking their sight.

Red Beard, Lady Nyri and Harry were all standing on the bow of the ship when they passed the passageway leading into the lagoon. Both his bystanders and the whole crew made big eyes when the whole of the bay came in sight. It was a breathtaking view. The first few islands were mountainous and formed a semi circle around many more smaller and flatter islands. Big patches of marshland formed the mainland where a large river merged in to the lagoon.

Redbeard turned to Nyri and made a deep bow.

"If I would not have sworn to never kneel again, I would do so too. You have led us to a sheltered land, as you have promised." He straightened himself and gave Harry a nod before letting his gaze wander over the small patch of paradise in front of him.

He spoke in a strong voice.

"We will build a new civilization here. Hidden from the evil of Valyria. A place where there are no slaves, only free men."

His face became thoughtful. "We will hold a big assembly, to decide how we want to govern our future city. It must be a fair process of equals."

Red Beard ended his little speech and gripped the railing in front of him, watching as they came closer to the network of the canals between the islands.

The rest of the day was spent bringing all the ships in to the lagoon and unload all the people and the many supplies they had stolen from the valyrian Lords.

The free people as they had started to call themselves for now, settled on one of the biggest islands close to the centre of the network, right next to the biggest patch of floating land in the lagoon.

As a gift, he had told them, Harry concentrated and lifted many big boulders out of the sea and put them down where the two big islands where closest. When he had enough he pulled the Elder Wand and concentrated, he tried to remember how the bridge from Hogwarts had looked like.

With a massive wordless spell formed from his intentions and memories Harry transfigured the boulders to a beautiful large stone bridge that spun over the waterway between the islands and connected them. He only changed the bridge to a high arch so ships could pass underneath.

The whole construction was seamless connected and anchored deep in the ground. The railings were beautifully carved and depicted the story they had told him of. How they had rebelled and sailed north for the promised land. The was more free space to carve more in the future.

He was quite pleased with the result. Not to speak of the free people. They were thankful for the gift and marvelled at the detailed carvings.

Feasting this evening was a grand affair out in the open with hundreds of people eating and drinking merrily. All together there were almost twenty thousand people living on the new land that had yet to be named.

Harry sat beside Nyri when they finished their meal and she addressed him in a warm voice unlike her normally firm tone.

"I think I have had enough for this evening Lord Peverell, would you escort me to my tent?"

She watched him when he placed down his knife, stood up and took her hand in his. He took a moment to truly appreciate her beauty. She wore a deep blue dress and had her hair in one big braid.

Even without make-up in this world, her lips were full and had a red shine to them. Her big blues eyes were still watching him intently waiting for his answer. While he had not spoken to her about her magic, he was content watching her for now, it only added to her beauty.

He spoke in a deep voice trying to hide his arousal.

"It would be my pleasure Lady Nyri."

They both left the feast and made their way to the Lady Nyri tent.

When they reached heir destination Nyri turned around and looked a little shy when she said.

"I thank you again for all your help." She looked like she wanted to say more before she went on her toe tips and gave him a light kiss on the cheek.

She turned slightly red and bade him a good night before she hurried in to her tent and closed the flap.

Harry cherished the moment for a second with a grin, having forgotten these feelings for a long time since their had been no time or trust for this in the old world, before he trailed to his own tent.


	10. The Titan of Braavos

Harry was here for a fortnight now, helping the people settle. There was plenty of fish in the lagoon and food and drink was not a problem. He was still wearing his sturdy leather outfit and his cloak.

A day before, the free people had finally decided on a name for their city. They would call it Braavos. Although it was to be a secret for the foreseeable future. They had everything here they needed for now, and they did not want to give away their location through trading.

The first thing the people insisted on erecting in their new city was a temple for the priestess of the Moonsingers, who had led them here. Moonsingers had been nomads from further east who were said to have visions and were praised for their eternal beauty. Most of them were women and many had been enslaved by the valyrian lords. Either as oracles hoping for a vision they could misuse, or as beautiful pleasure slaves. After they had fled, all of the freed moonsingers had had the same vision at the same time.

 _ **Shelter would be found in a lagoon behind a wall of pine-clad hills and sea stones far north**_

This, and the missing of other options, had convinced all of the former slaves to follow the vision and sail north.

In the early morning Redbeard and the ten men responsible for the city layout stood around a crude wooden table, full with parchment that Harry had transfigured. Harry himself was standing to the side eating an apple while sunken in thoughts. He was no altruistic man. He had enjoyed building the bridge and flexing his magic. His saving people thing had strongly diminished over the last did noit plan to stay for much longer, but these people and this planed city could fit quite nicely in his plans. A talk with the goblins could help.

They were planing a consistent city layout with a good sewage system, as to avoid problems in the future. The free people would use the two big islands that were connected with the stone bridge for now. They were big enough to settle all of their people and some more.

The men standing around the table, studying the maps, were listening to a young boy who told them about the progress with the gathering of building materials. They had brought a lot of different materials with them. They were originally thought for a small keep that would hold the valyrian family on the new land. In the eyes of their former owners the ground was good enough for every slave, they did not see the need to build houses for thousands of slaves.

So while the free people had a lot of gold, precious stones silver and other treasures, stone or wood were almost out of stock.

They were talking heatedly about the areas near the bridge. Many wanted to build their new homes near the marvellous stone bridge.

Just as Harry decided to say something regarding the subject, a young scrawny man with brown hair came running from the bank of the canal, sweating and gasping as he stopped in front of Sam Redbeard and completely ignored the people around them. He gasped as he started to speak aloud.

"my Lord... Lord Redbeard, there are ships coming from the south. They bear no visible sigil… but…. We have seen a dragon flying above the fleet." The boy was pale and shaking when he finished his tale. Everyone around him froze and looked at Redbeard while throwing glances at Harry. The fear was palable and written on their faces.

Redbeard straightened himself and told the messenger in a serious tone.

"I'm no Lord boy."

He looked at the boy for a few more seconds before adressing the gathering crowd around him.

"We can not hope to win against a dragonlord and his beast. But I have sworn an oath. An oath to never be enslaved again. And even if it means my death. I at least can choose it willingly." His speech had quieted the crowd around him and many were shaking with fear.

"There is no use in all of us dying needlessly. All able men who want to fight to give our families a chance join me. The elder women and children will hide. Run for.."

Harry sighed and spit out the kernels of his apple to interrupted the man.

"I have found quite a liking to your people. And I have never met these valyrian dragonlords. Let me take care of them and you kill of the rest."

He did not wait for acknowledgement, or say anything else before he transformed himself into his raven form and took to the air.

Passing over the small wooden guard post they had erected on the cliffs Harry immediately saw the fleet, consisting of at least a hundred ships, heading their way.

And while it looked quite a bit different than the horntail he remembered, there was a big dragon flying in large circles above the fleet. The scales of the beast were of a deep red. Large spikes protruding in a line from his back. The fleet and the beast were only a short distance away, and Harry could recognise an armoured person riding the dragon. The man's armour shone brightly in the gleaming sunlight. He did not wear a helmet and his silvery long hair could be seen fluttereing in the wind.

They had apparently not spotted their ships which the free people had hidden behind the bigger mountainous islands. But it would not take long until the dragon or his rider would notice the big stone bridge and the small town of tents. They must have looked for their former slaves everywhere if they came so far north., they would not rest.

The fleet itself consisted of at least 40 big ships that looked like war ships to Harry and another sixty to eighty more smaller armed ships.

Harry was not sure were Nyri was, but he had no time to look for her. Already he could see many of the free people trying to hide around the islands. A lot of them trying to get a glimpse of the approaching fleet only to hide deeper when they saw the big flying beast above the fleet.

Only a small part of them, about a thousand men, armed themselves with knifes tools and the few bows and swords they had looted. They positioned themselves on the seaward hill chain that hid the lagoon, preparing themselves for an enemy landing. The few archers they had hid on the cliffs of the entrance.

Harry landed near one of the archers who seemed to have command and transformed back. The stunned main regained his senses fast and made a small bow.

"Wizard how can I be of help?" he spoke in a serious tone.

Harry did not waste time. "I will take down the dragon and its rider. Get a few of the bigger ships here and block the narrow entrance with them. Stop them from entering with everything we have. Get the armed men without bows on these ships to defend them."

"Even if you have to sink our own ships to blockade the entrance, do it." Harry stopped for a second when a primordial roar shook the air around them. He looked for the dragon and could see the rider had drawn his sword and signalled his fleet where to go. They had been spotted.

Returning his gaze to the cowering man Harry said.

"I will try to come and help you as soon as I can."

He did not wait for the awed soldier to acknowledge his word, trusting in his own will to survive, before he turned around and transfigured a massive boulder into a stone version of a big stone griffin. The stone creature stretchered its wings and turned its head to stare at Harry with his massive stone eyes, before bending his left front leg and letting him climb on. While only about a third or even a fourth the size of the dragon, his beast should be a lot more agile, and he liked it more than this fiery beasts.

He ignored the stunned outcries of the men around him and let his mount jump off the cliff, before it flapped its large wings and headed directly for the dragon and its rider. Harry did not draw Bane yet. He wanted to be closer.

While the rider still did not see Harry his mount immediately spotted the new threat. With a turn of his big lizard head and a loud cry it dove down to get a good angle of attack on the new opponent from above. Stunned for a moment the rider finally seemed to realize the new situation and sheathed his sword to hold on to his saddle.

Harry let more magic flow into his creation and the griffin shot ahead with a cry and a massive speed boast equalizing the height between the two opponents and surprising the dragon. Harry let off the most powerful cutting curse he could cast aimed right at the dragon.

As expected, the spell had no effect on the magic resistant dragon, and simply evaporated on impact. A second later the two giant beast crashed into each other.

Harry could just swerve at the right moment, to evade a big claw that scratched over the side of the griffin. The dragon bent his neck and tried to bite the resistant opponent in the nape. The Griffin retaliated before his opponent could hit him with his fangs. Clawing himself in the flesh of the dragon the griffin turned its head and bit multiple times into the massive neck of the dragon. Harry and the other rider could just hold on to their mounts while they were fighting and falling rapidly towards the sea.

The Dragon reared its big head, blood sprouting from multiple smaller wounds. When the beast had been angry at the beginning, it was now furious with his claws and fangs only leaving scratches on its prey.

The beast had enough and engulfed Harry and his griffin in a heap of deep red dragon fire. Deaths cloak protected Harry like the shells of an egg. His griffin however seemed to have trouble resisting the magical fire. Parts of the stone skin blistered and began to glow red hot.

Harry broke off the fight between the two just at the right moment to level out his flight and gain back some altitude. The dragon was bleeding and seething. But not beaten. While Harry's creature was quite proficient at flying, the dragon had apparently mastered this skill. With half a barrel roll and the spanning of his wings he got right behind Harry and let off another big roar of deep red fire.

While he did not feel any heat under his protection, the magical fire caused his transfigured mount to start crumbling beneath him. Harry pushed more magic into his mount to keep it together and to spur it on to fly faster. The pings of arrows could be heard hitting the griffins underbelly when they passed over the enemy fleet.

The entrance to the lagoon was already filled to the brim with ships. And the clanging sounds of swords and the cries of men could be heard.

Only a handful of ships of the enemy were able to get inside the entrance between the cliffs, the free people having set their own ships on fire to form a barrier. Slowly but surely the well equipped soldiers of the dragonlord were pushing through the floating barricade with their war galleys and slaughtered everyone in their way.

With the dragon close behind and only half a second to make a decision Harry had only one idea that could work.

He steered at the left cliff of the entrance and hoped that no one would be hit when he crash landed. When he was only a few hundred meters away, and still under fire by the enemy fleet beneath him, Harry concentrated and ripped a few dozen head sized stones out of the cliff in front of him.

Letting the small boulders float for a moment he transfigured them to long thick spears, and aimed them at himself and the dragon right behind him.

He was now only a couple seconds away from landing when he dissolved the magic holding his griffin together, and banished all the floating spears right at himself.

Harry himself instantly morphed in to his raven form as the griffin disintegrated to dust, dipping off the incoming missiles.

The dragon still sped ahead, letting out a shrill cry at the sudden disappearance of his prey, without realising the immediate danger. Before the startled rider could order his mount to escape the attack, several stone spears struck the dragon mid flight in the chest and wings, causing it and its rider to fall with a tormenting howl directly into the valyrian fleet.

Harry saw how the red dragon hit the waves and started to sink. The last breaths of life leaving it. He did not see the body of the Dragonlord anywhere. He must have sunk in his heavy armour.

Morphing back into his normal form Harry landed on the cliff with bended knees. Most of the men were throwing rocks, having shot all their arrows, with only a few true bowmen left. While it was not time to cheer or celebrate yet, many had seen him kill the dragon and their spirit and moral were bolstered by having such a wizard on their side.

The enemy had no chance to land on the surrounding cliffs so they pushed with all their might and ships trough the narrow gap, and slowly but surely they were succeeding. Only a handful of their own ships were still blockading the entrance and fighting off the attackers.

There would be no stopping them, once they had breached the blockade.

Harry thought briefly about transfiguring the ships of the enemy fleet, but he was pretty sure that not even he was capable of such a feat of magic.

There was only one spell in his arsenal that was capable of enough destruction to make sure no one could flee. Harry knew that the knowledge of this location could not leave this lagoon. He felt a slight pang of regret about the fate of any slaves that were still working on the enemy war ships, but he steeled himself with the knowledge, that sometimes, sacrifices were necessary.

Harry walked up to the edge of the cliff immersing himself deeply in the flow of magic. With the Elder Wand in hand, he let a small stone bridge grew from the opposing cliff sides, spanning the whole entrance with the fighting ships beneath. It was narrow and very simple, but would do its job well.

The surprised free people, who were throwing rocks by now, hastily parted when he walked up on to the narrow stone bridge and stopped in the middle of it.

Harry let his power loose and summoned the beast of hell, to once again, sow destruction in his name. He used fiendfyre rarely, and the beasts seamed eager to be called.

No one of the onlookers would forget the sight when the wizard summoned his fiery creatures.

Giant beasts of legend broke free from the tip of his wand. A huge snake with massive fangs, multiple dogs with three heads, several giant griffins, all made of deep red fire.

The demons of hell were not bothered by the frothy sea. Sparring the front line, to not burn their own ship and men, they jumped from ship to ship, devouring everything in their path and leaving only wooden ashes and charred clumps of sinking metal.

In the span of thirty seconds, filled with thousands of agonizing cries of dying men, over half of the enemy fleet was burned to ash.

Harry felt the demons roar with joy at the carnage they created, when suddenly a strong magical presence emanated from the last big war galley in the back. A handful of smaller ships had formed around the galley.

A storm of ice was forming around the last cluster of ships and the sea froze around them in a terrifying speed. His demons tried to get to their last obstacles, but could not enter the by now fully grown blizzard on the sea.

Harry could barely recognise something through the ice storm, but he felt his fiendfyre getting weaker with the second. He was amazed and frightened and the same time.

 _Who or what had the power to stop hellfire?_

The sea kept freezing and trying to beat his beasts further back

But Harry was not having it. He immersed himself completely to the magic around him and pushed all his available power in to the spell.

His cloak started to glow and his eyes shone brightly out on to the open sea.

A new beast appeared in the midst of his summoned ones, assuming the shape of a skeletal horse. It reached almost to the top of the cliff and began to melt the stone on the cliff side, giving it a glassy appearance.

A huge crack was heard and felt in the bones. For a moment, the blizzard weakened enough to see through, and Harry recognised the valyrian lord standing on the last great galley.

He looked different. His left arm was missing and his body seemed broken in many places. His former silver hair was ragged and dirty.

His eyes had changed the most. Harry could not remember what eye colour the man had had. But they had definitely not been bright blue.

The man felt different and somehow rotten in the magical flow.

The former Dragonlord looked hatefully at Harry and raised his right hand, before the light in his eyes suddenly went out and his body went limp.

Harry had broken the strange ice magic and felt his fiendfyre triumph over their fiend. He relaxed a little and watched as they devoured the measly rest of the fleet and the dead Dragonlord.

It looked as if the sea itself was on fire, and only a few minutes after the battle had started, Harry recalled the beasts and starred down at the crashing waves beneath him. There was nothing left of the enemy fleet. Not a single ship had survived, only the shapes of the few that had sank beforehand were still lightly visible under the water.

There were no more cries to be heard, the last few ships had surrender upon seeing the massive fiery horse and no bodies were swimming in the sea. Death had claimed them all today.

For a moment there was only the sound of the sea and the wind disturbing the silence. As suddenly all the Braavosi dropped their weapons and started cheering and chanting.

When Harry turned around and looked down into the lagoon, he saw that most the people had come out of hiding to watch the battle. And all of them were chanting the same word over and over again.

"TITAN"

"TITAN"

"TITAN"

With even the last coming out of hiding, twenty thousand people were cheering and chanting his new title.

 **Evening the same day**

When Harry had been able to calm the mass down a little they had started to look for survivors of the battle. A few men were diving down to the sunken parts of the ships to look for any treasure that could have survived below the waterline.

The free people did also prepare for a massive feast this evening. But Harry was quite tired and not really in the mood for such a mass of people who would all want to talk to him. They hadn't stopped calling him Titan.

He used a quite moment to make a beeline for his tent which he had insistent on keeping.

Probably because of his exhaustion, he did not recognise the presence he felt in his tent, before even opening the flap. Not in mood for any games, Harry drew Bane and stepped in to his tent. Upon the sight of who exactly was in the tent he almost dropped his sword.

"Oh that's not the sword you'll be needing tonight my Lord."

Nyri spoke in a soft and sultry voice.

She was completely naked lying on his makeshift bed in the middle of the room. Only a beaver fur hiding her intimate parts.

Harry did not need to hear this twice. After all, the last time was way to long ago and they had been getting closer every day.

He sheathed Bane and put it away while pulling of his leather armour and shirt.

Nyri watched him with a hungry look, before she stood up, letting the beaver fur fall to the floor, taking his hand and draging him to bed.

"Come now, I will give you a reward worthy of the Titan of Braavos."


	11. Pride comes before a fall

The sun rose over Valyria and let the top of the towers in the city shine in golden splendor.

Harry had reached the capital of the Freehold a few days ago. The architecture reminded him of stories from Hogwarts about the old Avalon. Majestic palaces and clouds piercing towers lined the streets.

His camouflage as a traveling dealer had served him well so far. The voyage through the Valyan freehold had been interesting, albeit a bit slow for his liking. But to avoid unwanted attention, he had grudgingly accepted that.

He had rented a generous room in the trading district of Valyria. Pieces of jewelry from his suitcase which he himself regarded as junk had earned him a handsome sum of gold.

He left the suitcase with the goblins. You never knew.

Harry leaned back in the cozy leather chair and listened to the shriek of dragons flying over the city.

Many of the screams sounded tortured. He knew that the Valyrirer bound the dragons with blood magic at birth. Each of these apex predators was as much a slave as the workers in the mines deep below the fourteen fires.

Harry poured wine from a wooden pitcher into his goblet and sat back. Through a window, he watched the goings-on in the street. Unlike Westeros, most people here had slaves doing business for their masters. Slavery had already been banned in Westeros when Harry first came to the north.

His adventures throughout the last Centuries in Westeros, unfortunately, did not have the desired success. While he had a good relationship with House Stark and a few other, such bonds were easily forgotten by the mortals. Harry had long ago accepted that he was different.

Adding to that, preparing for a threat that was centuries away, many regarded as meaningless. If they believed him at all.

Harry took a large sip and could not resist a sinister grin. The idea to conquer Westeros itself became more attractive every year.

He sighed a minute later and rejected the thought again. Apart from the fact that Westeros was far too backward and snobbish for his taste, the unification of the kingdoms would be a monumental task that would simply make too much work at the moment.

He had also seriously been thinking of settling down on Ironshore and checking the state of affairs in the rest of the world in a few hundred years again. But after a week of helping the goblins with various tasks, he got bored again.

After that, Harry had held extensive discussions with the goblins and decided to keep Ironshore secret for the time being. The mist gave the island a good natural cover and allowed the goblins to settle many of the magical plants and animals in peace. In addition, they appreciated the peace.

And when Harry's current plan worked, dragons would soon grow up there too.

He knew that the Valyrians would not give him their dragon eggs voluntarily. He would just have to steal a few.

Harry was not too worried. The magic of the Valyrians could be quite potent after great sacrifices, but no ceremonies or rituals were planned.

Harry sank into a light sleep. A spell would wake him when the time comes.

A few hours later, a persistent and loud buzzing in his head woke him. Harry got ready and made sure he was not visible under his cloak. It was just before midnight and the streets were sparsely lit with milky glass lamps containing green flames.

Soldiers with black leather armor without markings patrolled the streets in pairs. They carried long spears and small round metal shields. Harry made sure to make no noises and arrived at his destination without any problems.

Harry was right in the center of the Valyrian capital. In front of him towered the largest building in the city. From a distance, it looked like a huge hemisphere crisscrossed with holes. From close, Harry could see now that the holes were entrances. Huge openings that allowed the Dragon Riders to fly directly into the huge hall. A stone balustrade connected the inner side of all the caves.

The information of the slave had been correct. A servant of a dragon lord, who was in Lys on a pleasure trip, had told him after a few drinks where the Valyrian lords were conducting their breeding rituals.

Harry hoped that the eggs would be there, too.

He had almost circled the huge complex when he found an inconspicuous side door. The locked door clicked softly when Harry gently moved his hand under the cloak.

The corridor Harry had a door on each side. A few meters straight ahead, a doorless archway opened into a huge hall. He moved forward with quiet steps and stared into the massive interior of the dome.

Harry realized that the openings outside led to large rooms that opened into the inside of the hall. These lairs were about twenty meters up. It looked like a ring of caves lining the inside of the dome.

Several glittering scales reflected the light of the torches burning on the lower level. Harry swallowed deeply. He was not so sure that the plan was such a good idea after all.

Dozens of guards stood silently against the inner dome wall. Harry realized what they were guarding. In the middle of the room was a spherical indentation. Harry slowly moved toward it, checking his surroundings with all the spells he knew.

As he was standing in front of the indentation, he could see them.

Dragon eggs in a variety of colors had been laid out there, like in a nest. Harry stopped counting at a hundred. Some were the size of Harry's head, others were the size of an ostrich egg.

Harry could not help but marvel. The eggs pulsed so full of magic. He stroked slightly over one of the larger eggs. He could feel the dragon embryo! There was clearly a magical creature in this egg. Harry was fascinated.

Even before Harry could start packing the eggs, a deep boom resonated through the room. All his magical and human senses told him to run. He immediately left the eggs and sprinted for an of the exits.

Runes on the ground around him jumped to life and a large circular circle on the floor of the arena lit up in a dark blue. A dome-like shield went up around Harry. The dome closed up fast.

Harry did not hesitate and changed into his raven form. With the cloak in his claws, he flew as fast as possible to the opening on the top of the closing dome. He was too slow. With a crash, he slammed into the magical shield. Harry just managed to right himself before he hit the ground.

He turned back and pulled the Elder wall. Soldiers poured out of the entrances into the Hall and stood in a circle around the magical shield.

Harry stood tense beside the eggs and waited. With his mind, he sought a way to break the runic circle. The magic that kept him from escaping, was unlike the usual ritualistic magic of the Valyrians.

The magic felt antique and incredibly powerful. Harry did not expect to find such a strong magical source here. It had definitely been set up long before the Valyrians rose to power.

He had not been able to decipher just one strand of the complicated Wards so far. Ward breaking had never been his strong suit. Clapping broke the busy silence and his concentration.

A platinum blond man in elegantly cut robes entered the balustrade above him. He wore a breastplate of bright shimmering steel under his robes. The man was clapping at a slow pace.

A smile graced his aristocratic face.

"Ahh. Finally. I have waited years for this moment. "

He paused and inspected Harry with a greedy look. Harry did not pay much attention to the Lord. He was still trying to crack the ancient Ward.

The Dragon Lord seemed to have an idea of why Harry was so distracted.

He made a derogatory gesture and said.

"Do not bother. The circle cannot be broken from the inside. It's impossible."

His smile vanished, and a nearly manic expression came over his face.

"This circle was created by the old ones. They lived long before our time. The old texts speak of a great evil that rises from the dark. I reckoned it would work for you as well."

Behind the Valyrian lord, two large shining eyes appeared in the darkness. The head of a mighty white dragon slid across the balustrade. The massive dragon sniffed the air and fixed Harry with his big intelligent eyes. The dragon gave a piercing roar.

The dragon lord stroked the white dragon's neck unperturbed and said.

"Did you really think you could travel unnoticed through the countries of this world for hundreds of years? Show up in different places and show your magic without us becoming curious? "

Harry was still busy with the ward. But listened with one ear.

There were now several hundred soldiers standing around the magic shield. They formed a circular shield wall around Harry. The Dragon Lord raised his right hand.

His men raised their shields and spears but did not move.

The Valyrian lord almost trembled with anticipation and spoke with undisguised greed in his voice.

"Since I was a young man, I've learned everything I could about you. Your battles in the Greystark rebellion. How you single-handedly averted an attack by Ibanesian slave traders in the Stormlands. Your legendary fight against Marius Gardener the best sword of his time. Yes, I do know you."

The blond man dropped his right hand and spoke the last words about the sound of the clanking armor of his advancing men.

"You have one thing that nobody else can give me. Your immortality. And now I'll get it "

To Harry's surprise, the first spearheads broke the shield. Entering the shield did not seem to be a problem.

He left the ward be and pulled back his magical feelers. The time for games was over. As the goblins always said. Violence is the best solution.

Harry waited a few more seconds for the first row of soldiers to enter the shield completely. One of the men halted unsure when he saw Harry lifting his Wand.

None of the soldiers ever got the chance to attack Harry. He shielded himself and fired the strongest Bombarda spell he could produce onto the circle on the ground.

For a brief moment, half a sun seemed to be shining in the dome center. A massive bang that shook the earth followed the dazzling white light. The Valyrian lord looked on and watched the big spectacle with awe.

To Harry's shudder, the runic shield just flared but stood firm. He saw no noticeable decline in the strength of the circle. The interior of the circle looked like a slaughterhouse. Blood and human remain covered the interior of the dome.

Harry was frustrated and gave everything he had. Would be a joke if he could not break this shield.

For a few minutes, the inside of the shield consisted of dazzling white flashlights pierced by rays of various colors. The shield flaring up in between.

There was no visible effect.

Harry was sweating. He had never used so much magic in such a short time. And that damned thing was still standing strong.

The dragon lord cheered. The spectacle seemed to have pleased him. He leaned over the balustrade and spoke in a smug voice.

"Wonderful. You are a lot more interesting than I could have ever dreamed of. "

His expression became a little more serious for the first time.

"Sadly, the time for games is over."

Archers came up to the balustrade around the hall. And tensed their bows. Hundreds of arrows were aimed at Harry.

Harry waited a moment longer. That could not be everything.

These valyrian bastards considered themselves the pinnacle of civilization. They were barbaric, bow-wielding slavers, and nothing more. Harry almost laughed out loud.

With a smirk on his face, Harry cast a circular protego charm. Arrows did not have the slightest chance of penetrating the shield.

Harry relaxed and spoke with a threatening undertone.

"You have no idea whom you are fighting. That will cost you dearly. "

He could not help but snarl arrogantly at the dragon lord. Let him try it. Harry would break the ward over time.

The Valyrian nodded, smiling, and gave the order.

His men did not hesitate and fired.

Hundreds of arrows flew towards Harry. They broke through the runic shield effortlessly. Harry did not bother diverting or burning the arrows. He stared unbroken into the dragonlord's blue eyes.

He realized a fraction of a second too late that his arrogance would cost him dearly. The arrows flew through his shield as if he were not there. Harry could only just see that the arrowheads were made of dark material before hundreds of arrows hit pierced him.

Harry gasped and sank to his knees. He felt every cell of his body scream in pain. His back had been protected by his cloak. But his cockiness had cost him.

He closed his eyes and tried shutting out the pain. He concentrated with all his might to push the arrowheads out of his body.

However, there was no effect. He concentrated and felt that one of the arrows had penetrated his heart and leached off his magic. His thoughts slowed down as he tried to fathom the cause.

He had to rest on the ground with his right hand.

His senses tried to tell him something, but the world blurred before his eyes.

He felt the arrow in his heart magically interact with the Ward below him. However, he was no longer able to defend against it. The exhausting effect was too strong.

The last thing he saw was a soldier carrying heavy gray chains.

The ground was fast approaching and his world became black.

* * *

Hey all. This was originally planned as a flashback in a later chapter. Since so many peoples had Problems with the jarring time skip, I wrote this as a chapter before the doom instead. The next chapter will still be posted in about a week. Thanks for the reviews. Stay tuned


	12. The doom

**The doom**

-101 years before Aegons Conquest-

The golden spires from one of the cities many temples could be seen through the window arches beside her as she was walking along the corridor to the lower parts of the palace.

She knew the way. Her father had shown it to her when she was a little girl and her family had lived in this place.

The guards did not react when they saw her carrying a tray full of food. Even if it seemed strange to them, they would never dare question her. As long as her father or anyone else in her family did not see her, everything was fine.

She had to talk to the man of her dreams. And this was the only chance she would get. She snorted as she thought about how her parents had warned her against getting close to the prisoner. Simply being close to him could be dangerous, they said. She seriously doubted that the prisoner was capable of any magic at all after such a long time of being imprisonment.

The other dragon lords had tried everything in the last two hundred years to get the man to reveal his secrets. Initially, Valyria almost fell into civil war because the families could not agree on who would first interrogate the foreign magician. Each of the Dragon Lords wanted his apparent immortality for themselves.

As time went by however, it became clear that whatever they did was not working. The prisoner either did not want to reveal his secrets, or he was not able to. So they tortured him. Again. And again.

She shuddered as she thought about how long the man had not seen sunlight, and what must have been done to him.

Her silver hair was blowing in the wind as she passed through the Courtyard and toward the large steel door that marked the entrance to the dungeons. The two guards beside the door only gave her a quick glance before the older one nodded to her and opened the heavy door. It was the last days that her family would spend in this palace. Her father had sold all of his last possessions in the Freehold and in a few days the departure was due.

This was her last chance to talk to the mysterious man she kept seeing in her dreams.

The descent into the dark depths lasted almost ten minutes. After all, this place was chosen because of its special cells. The cells on the lowest level were imbued with the strongest protection spells the Valyrian Freehold could produce.

Even if the man had to endure many tortures, freezing was not one of them. In the lowest level there was a pleasant warmth. Probably from one of the nearby volcanoes.

The lone cell door at the end of the damp stairs was made of solid steel, littered with runes and long forgotten symbols. Fresh blood ran down the door. The last sacrifice had been made recently.

Two guards standing outside the door were wrapped in armor plates and looked at her silently. For the first time since she started the descent, she spoke in a clear and melodic voice.

"I have my father's permission to see the prisoner. He hopes I'll see something when I talk to him. "

She spoke in a firm voice and hoped that the guards in the silent corridor could not hear her fast heartbeat.

These guards were sworn to her father personally. They were the only ones who might inform him.

With bated breath, she waited while the guards stared at her with a calculating look. A few seconds passed before the right guard bowed slightly and a deep voice boomed from within the plate helmet.

"Of course my lady"

The guard opened the heavy mechanism that kept the door locked and waited for the various clicking sounds to stop.

With a strong jerk, he opened it. She tried to calm her heartbeat and said firmly

"I wish to speak undisturbed with the prisoner. It does not take long."

The guard just nodded and waited quietly. She entered the dark room with firm steps. The guard lit a torch and attached it to the wall in the small room. He turned to her and spoke again.

"I advise not go too close my Lady. Even if the last ritual was recent and he is tied up. He often finds ways to do damage."

The guard stepped out of the door. He did not close the door completely but left it slightly ajar.

The Valyrian beauty was now alone in the room that held the Freehold's most dangerous enemy.

For a cell, there was relatively much space available. The walls were bare and had no windows. The only sound being heard was the water dripping from the walls.

In the middle of the room stood an altar-like stone block on which the magician was chained. Several blood-soaked steel chains wrapped around his limbs and upper body, handcuffing him to the altar. A slight magical glow emanated from the back stone block and the chains.

The mans torso and his extremities was covered in wounds. Surprisingly, his face was free from injury except for a scar on his forehead. His long black hair hung in his face in oily fringes. Despite the injuries, it was apparent that his body had resisted the decay of time.

She knew that he was hundreds of years old yet she could not help but be astonished when she saw the body of a young man. He did not look older than twenty years. She approached carefully and set down the tray of food near the altar.

The man was still asleep. With light steps she approached the altar and leaned slowly and uncertainty over the captive's face.

Even in his sleep, he made a tortured sight.

The man had an attraction she could not explain. Even before she could tear herself together, she ran her finger gently over his pale cheek. It was as if she had been struck by a small lightning bolt. She jerked her arm back reflexively and took a step back.

The prisoner opened his eyes abruptly and fixed her with a piercing look.

She was captivated by his gaze.

For a brief moment after the man opened his eyes she felt as if she was staring straight into the sky late at night. A deep black littered with stars that sparkled in incredible intensity. But the moment was over before she could be sure that it was no imagination. She blinked and continued to stare unbroken into the now dark green eyes of the ancient magician.

He was obviously in pain. The man was still silent. She mustered her courage, picked up the tray of food from the floor, and approached the altar. She dipped the hard bread into the water pitcher and spoke in a clear voice.

"I'm not here to hurt you. I want to help you."

He just kept staring at her. He did not even seem to be trying to speak.

She made an eating gesture with the bread and slowly began to feed him.

The man did not resist and when it became clear that she would not trick him with the food, he began to choke down the bites she handed him.

"Slowly. You have not eaten anything for a long time. Even for you, that can not be healthy."

He closed his eyes during the bites and listened to her words. He fixed her with his eyes again and opened his mouth for the first time to speak.

"Wh….y?"

The word came out broken. His voice had the sound of rough stone rubbing against each other.

She had not really expected the man to say something. According to the stories, he had been silent for over one hundred and fifty years.

She kept feeding him as she spoke in a low voice.

"I've seen you in my dreams since I was a little girl. For a long time I did not understand what or whom I saw. "

She gave him a moment to chew and drink some water. He continued to look at her with a hard but interested look.

"It was not until I got older and heard the stories about you. And after my father had shown me your sword, I knew that you had to be the man who always appeared to me"

"For years the same dream. A man with black hair is standing in front of a bare white tree. A black cloak hangs around his shoulders and flutters in the wind. A black scabbard with a sword hanging on his side. The hilt made of Bones. Red leaves cover the ash black soil around it. Behind him I can see the burning battlements of the towers of Valyria. The whole city is on fire. "

A shiver ran down her spine as she recalled the dream. She put down the now empty tray and the water jug.

"The terrible shriek of dying dragons ,lords and slaves at the same time permeates the flame-saturated air. The next moment, the black-haired man turns to me and stares at me with your deep green eyes. "

The prisoner only raised an eyebrow but said nothing else. She took another deep breath and continued.

"Several pictures then always patter on me in rapid succession before I wake up with the last. " "The first shows you standing on a bloody hill, dressed in black armor, looking at a city with thick walls in the distance."

"Then A fleet of black sails fighting a terrible storm. lightning flashing in the sky"

She shuddered as she thought of the last picture.

"At the last moment, you stand on a huge wall of ice, next to you is a black-haired man dressed in the traditional Targaryen armor with the thre headed red dragon. Ice is forming on your cloaks ". "And then the dream ends. I wake up sweaty every time."

The young silver-haired woman grabbed for something at her neck and pulled out a necklace. She showed him a symbol that hung on the chain. A red three-headed dragon on a black ground graced a gold shield. The eyes of the dragons seemed to be made of bright diamonds.

The young lady straightened her spine, looked deep into his eyes, and spoke in a firm voice.

"I am Daenerys Targayren. Daughter of Aenar Targaryen. One of the Forty Great Dragon Lords of the Valyrian Empire. " "The three-headed dragon is the emblem of our house."

Daenerys had taken a step back for safety after she introduced herself.

She studied the prisoner and waited for a response. But he did not respond except to the staring of his green eyes.

"I know you can speak"

She was getting a little impatient. She was not sure what exactly she had expected. But certainly not silence. The man had no idea how careful she had to be to tell him of her dream. Or what her lord father would do if he found out.

Before she could get upset the prisoner spoke in broken Valyrian.

"It's been a long time since I last spoke."

The talking seemed to cause him great pain.

His voice was still very rough.

"My name is Harry."

For the first time since he woke up, a small smile seemed to flash across his face before one of his many injuries caused him pain again.

"How long ... How long have I been here?"

Daenerys Targaryen seemed uncomfortable with the question. She fidgeted a little but finally answered softly.

"In a fortnight, the new year is breaking. That will be the 189 years of your captivity."

Harry sighed and closed his eyes.

"It feels like it's been at least a thousand years."

Daenerys noticed one of the guards in front of the door giving her a look and a nod. Her time was slowly used up.

She took another step toward Harry and spoke softly in a haunting voice.

"I'm sure Valyria will go down. It will not be long. I am here to warn you. Be ready. The moment of your freedom may be within reach. You must survive whatever comes. I dont know why but I'm sure without you darkness will prevail."

Harry did not answer. His green eyes just kept staring at her intensely while Daenerys collected the tray and left the cell with one last look at the mysterious magician.

* * *

 **Harry**

The days went by without anyone coming looking for Harry or interrogating him again.

Despite his hope for more untainted food, Daenerys Targaryen did not return.

It would not have changed his opinion anyway. All of the dragonlords would get to feel the heat of demonic fire If he ever got free of this prison. No act of compassion would safe them from his wrath.

He tried to move. But the magical chains were too strong. And the Ward that helped suppress his magic was still at full strength. And yet his head was clearer than ever. Presumably, the little food he had received from the guards had been poisoned. Although that should not have been a problem for his blood.

Harry was not sure how many days had passed when voices were heard outside the door. With a crunch, the heavy metal door opened. The two usual guards entered the room. They flanked a middle-aged man with fair hair. His facial features showed a stern man.

He wore expensive dark blue silken robes. His blue eyes gave the impression of a man used to dominate. The man smirked when he realized that Harry was watching him. He stopped a few meters short of the altar and spoke in a gentle and soft voice.

"I see you are awake. We did not have the pleasure yet. Let me introduce myself. "

"I am Argan Valyn. The Lord of House Valyn. The noblest and oldest of Blood in all of Valyria. "

The man spoke with pride about his family.

"It was my great grandfather that caught you when you tried stealing those eggs all those years ago."

The Dragon Lord folded his arms behind his back.

"For nearly two hundred years no one has managed to get your secrets out of you. We tried almost everything to kill you. Your immortality is incredible. "

The fascination and greed were written into the Lord's face.

"I still think we should have tried to remove your limbs. I am sure without your head, you would not have survived."

He made a derogatory gesture.

"Alias my revered members of the council did not want to take the chance to lose you as a ... test subject ..."

His features took on a manic expression.

"But now it's finally time. Using the Shadowbinders of Asshai, I've been able to create a ritual that will transfer your powers to me. And if everything goes right, then I will be just as invulnerable as you are now. "

"Unfortunately this will result in your final death if I am not mistaken"

The Dragon Lord seemed to revel in anticipation for a moment before nodding his head and ordering the guards.

"The reinforcement will arrive in a few minutes. You will take him to the ritual hall." The Guards nodded and started to bring in a series of large iron bars to attach the chains to.

Their Lord spoke again in a warning tone.

"Be watchful. The chains are freshly reinforced, but we do not want to take any chances."

The blond-haired dragon lord turned on his heel and left the vault.

The ritual hall was an extra sacrificial room. The hall had a circular floor plan and fell slightly towards the middle. Harry had been blinded with a rag and carried here. He had felt the magic on the chains weakening by the seconds, but he still could not use his powers before again being chained to the floor in the middle of the bay in the hall. His sword Bane that he had believed lost was placed next to him. Out of reach.

Harry could not see anything. Only the screeching of, he assumed, several dragons could be heard. They sounded very young.

With a loud jolt, the doors of the hall opened. Footsteps were heard and someone tore the black bandage from his eyes.

The ceiling was a good ten meters above him. The hall had to be huge.

At Harry's side stood Lord Valyn. As Harry could see now, at the edge of the circular basin, the room held dozens of young dragons chained to pillars. They hissed and screamed together. They all tried to free themselves but without success. Behind each dragon there was a person completely wrapped in a black cloak.

The Shadowbinders, suspected Harry. There were at least 40 dragons and these priests scattered around the hall.

The Dragon Lord had a long knife in his right hand. The steel seemed covered with smoke-like ripples. At the end of the handle was the biggest Ruby Harry had ever seen.

Lord Valyn proclaimed in a triumphant voice.

"Today is the day I become a God. As it was foretold by my ancestors. "

The priests and the Valyrian lord began to sing in a dialect that Harry did not understand. Had he not known that this was a sacrificial ritual for him, he would have described the song almost as reassuring. His chains began to glow stronger and burned on his skin.

Suddenly the priests stopped singing and only Lord Valyn could be heard. From his peripheral vision, Harry could see the figures in the robes pulling out long swords and slaughtering the young dragons. They had no chance. None of the young dragons seemed to be able to spit fire. It was carnage. And in a few minutes it was over and again it was only the voice of the Lord to hear.

The dragon's blood flowed into the room and Harry felt the warm liquid cover a large part of his body. It covered the bare feet of the Lord before him. The magic in the room thrummed, making every cell of Harry's body vibrate. The singing became louder again and the Lord raised both arms to the sky.

When he dropped them again it appeared to be a signal.

The Shadowbinders in the background dropped to their knees and at the same time, all of them cut their throats. The men's blood continued to fill the pit and the blood now reached Harry's ears. His upper body was just bared.

The magic in the room was so thick that Harry could barely breathe.

Harry closed his eyes. He was not sure if the ritual would work. But he hoped it. Surely death would help him or even let him rest at peace if he died. He would have to find someone else for his job.

Even as these thoughts passed through his mind, he felt a knife being rammed into his heart with brutal force.

The Lord shouted the last words of his ritual out into the world as he rammed the knife into Harry's chest.

For a moment nothing seemed to happen, as if time stood still.

Harry felt no pain. For a fleeting second he had the feeling of being sucked out of the cut in his chest. His strength and everything else that made him. But the feeling left him immediately, and for a split second he saw a very old man with a bony smile bent over him. He fainted before he could think more about it.

He did not notice how his body started to glow.

The valyrian Lord was visibly surprised that nothing had happened. He tried to ram the knife into Harry's heart again. But the attempt failed. The knife slid off the side of Harry's body.

The shock was written on the face of the nobleman. It could not be. Something had gone wrong.

The glow that Harry gave of increased and became blindingly bright.

Lord Alyn had to cover his eyes and take a few steps backwards.

Before he could try to flee, a massive shock wave emanated from Harry's body.

The first wave threw the lord across the room to the wall further back. The noblest of all the valyrian lords slumped against the wall like a sack of potatoes. His body broken beyond repair.

The doors were torn open and guards and family stormed into the room to get to the bottom of the quake.

Even before anyone could reach the fallen Lord, Harry's second shock wave, several times stronger, went off.

The palace, built on a small hill just outside the town of Valyria, was immediately destroyed.

Every human being and every animal within a radius of several hundred meters was torn to pieces by the magical wave that rolled over the land.

Not only over the earth was the devastation catastrophic. The plates of the world on which Valyria stood shifted and caused hundreds of strong earthquakes.

The circular wave rolled through the towns towards the volcanic mountains. The battlements and towers of the architectural masterpieces throughout the peninsula collapsed as they were struck by never-ending earthquakes.

While half of the Valyrian peninsula was already burning and in ruins, a third shock wave exploded from Harry's throbbing body. It destroyed everything that had not been burned by the first two waves and killed everyone within a fifty kilometers radius.

The soil tore open and let small mountains emerge. With a big bang, the shock waves reached the volcanic mountains.

In a massive chain reaction, all of the Volcanoes of Valyria exploded.

All the Dragons that had nested there were instantly dead.

Burning boulders the size of houses and palaces were thrown across the country. Toxic gases blew up and killed everything and anyone who had somehow survived. Parts of the land broke off and the sea raced inland.

Within a few minutes, the Valyrian Empire was destroyed.

* * *

I changed a few things in this chapter in preparation for the next one that will be coming in about two weeks. Shoul be the normal rhythm from then on.


End file.
